By Madalyn Hochendoner

I didn’t know what quality
over quantity meant

a buck knife you win
at the auction?

skin mount the ten-point
western mount the rest

all I knew was I wanted
to be endless

stuff me full of salt
keep me on ice

me and my shadow
in the alien field

low shrubs
and no topsoil

what would it take
call me a coward

stuck between the river
and the lightning

all sky

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Madalyn Hochendoner lives in Pittsburgh and works in reproductive health.