Bethany O’Tremba
Poetry
after Hanif Abdurraqib
Cold fries / no salt no pepper / under a burnt-out heat lamp / dead flowers / in stagnant water / damp leaves don’t crunch beneath your feet / they mush / old bananas / brown and squishy / sudsy dishes / mysteries hidden below / the bubbly surface / submerge your hand / and brush against / soggy chunks of food / biology class / a mushy sheep heart / that no longer beats / punctured by the tip of my scalpel / a flow of blood that never comes / remains of what was once full of life / springtime seeps into / mushy mud / and squelching wet grass / grip weights and wait / for muscles to tense / and not be mushy anymore / old bananas / now sweet soft bread / bringing beauty from ashes
Bethany O’Tremba is a sophomore majoring in English education with a minor in creative writing. From Lovell, Wyoming, Bethany wants to some day visit every Disneyland Park. She is scared of people who order a straight espresso.
The Rocky Mountain Review 