Patterns by Aimee Nicole

When you

tug o’ war

so careless

my emotions fray

like chewed through wire.

Brain so

rug burned

by that abrasive

tone and I don’t know

if I should cry or

time out in the corner.

Don’t you know

that flippant

style is like a home,

I bury my nuts there

and cannot find them…

every winter

I starve myself

all over again.

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Aimee Nicole is a chronically ill queer poet currently residing in Rhode Island. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Roger Williams University and has been published by the Red Booth Review, The Nonconformist, and Voice of Eve, among others. For fun, she enjoys attending roller derby bouts and trying desperately to win at drag bingo. Her first collection Daily Worship is scheduled for publication by Laughing Ronin Press this upcoming January 2022. Instagram: @aimeenicole525