L’Anatomie D’Une Bête Parfaite

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I am the nicest in the room

the nicest in the room. 

I also see 

the organs of beasts

that ask permission to be made.

The bones of maybe-birds

Look to me for articulation. 

Rib by rib

all my love in cold coffee can,

in burnt butter. 

What I give 

with full heart

is wings to heal ghostliness—

is absolution of the belly. 

Plant tooth of dog in desert soil

and ask for my nose 

to become a sun. 

The bodies that come to me

ask for six stomachs

and a heart with chambers like a maze, 

like a matryoshka. 

Creatures 

born with guts like silk, born

with mittens and antlers;

Convince their entrails 

to be gathered. 

Fill caverns and call it anatomy. 

Spot where I’ve been cooked, 

spot what protrudes, reaching 

from inside, fingering the ridges

of a wandering jaw. 

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Bella Koschalk is a creative writing major at Idyllwild Arts Academy. She is a lesbian and non-binary writer. She is a recipient of a 2020 Anthony Quinn scholarship in literary arts. Her work has appeared in the Columbia Journal, CutBank Literary Magazine, Sonder Midwest, and elsewhere.

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