Rigid by Allison Leigh Peters

Six knives, I wash them
in the sink, disgracefully, stick
.......them in. Man-made lightning

in the face. Plastititions
in; provocation out. The cigarette
.......after cigarette, the wine

bottles, slabs of cock
on the face, bouncing against
.......the face, between toes, nails

polished black. Six knives,
I wash them in the sink, disgracefully
.......against the face, man-made

of plastic, design by woman.
Before sunrise, the act of cleansing
.......the face, knives, under the nails.


Allison Leigh Peters won an Academy of American Poets Prize in 2010.
Her most recent work has been published in the Michigan Quarterly
Review, Burner Magazine, Connotation Press, Dark Sky Magazine, Third
Wednesday, Oberon Poetry Magazine, Breakwater Review and elsewhere.
She lives in Ann Arbor, where she works in publishing, edits a
literary magazine, volunteers for 826 Michigan and teaches English at
Community High School.