Amanda's skin opens
a red yawn,
empties stuffing,
and bleeds
for the love of her father,
to protest a twenty third birthday,
because God has forgotten her.

This girl is no good at dying.
The razor missed.

The emergency room is serious
with news magazines,
coughing children,
and the panic of families.
All night the hurt comes.

We leave at daybreak,
white gauze strangles
her rip,
and clings to her like a dove
scared of flight.