MiPOesias Magazine

KARYNA MCGLYNN

KARYNA McGLYNN’s has poems forthcoming in Gulf Coast, ACM, Spinning Jenny, La Petite Zine and Subtropics. A three-time Pushcart nominee, Karyna is the recipient of the Hopwood Award for poetry at the University of Michigan where she is currently teaching and pursuing her MFA. She is an editor for the online journal Stirring. Her website is www.karynamcglynn.com.

[he had small eyes the color of dull mink]

He punched his fist through my wall; I broke my latchkey.
            [I bared my teeth at him like a wounded coyote.]
He swung up and punched the gut right under my car seat.
            [When I stuck my fingers in the hole, he bit them.]
He punched the air: I’m not your child. I broke my mop.
            [I danced around his dirty kitchen like a lame duck.]
He gendered the cat that crawled through a hole in his wall.
            [I clenched my teeth at the cat like a broken clock.]