First I cut / off my hands so I couldn’t / touch / him, couldn’t hold him. When this wasn’t / enough I cut off / my ears so I couldn’t hear / him whisper, Good morning / beautiful. Next I cut / off my lips, my tongue, removed / my ability to kiss / him, to hold / his name / in my mouth. When none / of these helped, when I still / felt the dull ache / for him, when he still haunted / my dreams I finally / plunged the blade / into my chest and cut / out my heart – a glistening, wet / muscle that echoed his name with each / beat. It pounded / wildly and then stopped, shuttered / to silence, his name / finally cut / from me.
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) and The Violence Within (Flutter Press) and is an MFA candidate at Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Public Pool, Rising Phoenix Review, The Legendary, Germ Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Brain Mill Press, Haunted Waters Press, and others. She loves nail polish, wine, and tattoos. Read her blog at www.wordperv.com, follow her on twitter: @wordperv, or find her on facebook: www.facebook.com/poetry.CourtneyLeBlanc.
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