18 – bucket (for Audrey)

to suffer
the shape of

abjection
to suffer
the form deformed
the spine bent into a bowl
that might collect
all twenty years

cloying of egg whites
about the tongue
to suffer
the taste

bucket daughter
who spells
with every bend of her arm
a long long history

Water writes
that history into her back
like a stone.




(Pictured above is Audrey, a female red eared slider who, as anyone can see, is severely deformed. According to information from the folks at Little RES Q, a Canada-based reptile rescue and rehab facility, Audrey suffered terrible neglect at the hands of her previous owners, who kept her in an unheated, unfiltered bucket with no UVA/B lighting for twenty years. In addition to her horrible living conditions, during those twenty years Audrey received only egg whites to eat. She currently lives at Little RES Q, where she receives the care she needs and deserves. Photo used with permission of Little RES Q.

Loads more pictures of Audrey, some of which showcase the shape her forelegs can make to her shell deformity, can be found at Little RES Q's Facebook page. )