wildscape. literary journal

Fifth Metatarsal
by Jenna Mather

Say curb / say Curb Your Enthusiasm / say I’ve never watched
my enthusiasm curb as quickly as when I fell / say curb / say
horizon turning to ground turning to sky turning to horizontal /
say ow ow ow ow ow / say why can’t I scream anything else 
/ say injury wounds eloquence / say last week, when I bragged
to my coworkers that I had never broken a bone / say irony
is a bitch / say Carry me? / say my body cradled in arms, then
couch, then almost pavement again, then car / say Google
Maps should use pain to calculate driving distance / say urgent
care / say my date of birth like a password / say If X-rays
can void skin, are my secrets safe? / say all but one of them 
/ say fracture on my fifth metatarsal / say my skin was still quiet,
even in hurt / say more trustworthy than a person / say unseen
curb / say if not for the swelling, no one would know I was broken.

about the author // Jenna Mather