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Kimberly E Ruth

Flash Light

Kimberly E. Ruth

Flash Light
by kimberly e. ruth
Like inside a pig’s stomach, it was dark:
 
a scene illuminated only
by what looked like a dilapidated saint
 
broken and buzzing an awkward
buzz.
 
I stepped closer
 
to get a better look and maybe feel or
touch or be touched by this flashlight
 
of a thing
but she flinched,
 
quivering like an unmade
bed.
 
I stepped back
showing her my armless hands
 
knowing here, in this intestinal trench,
such a thing it makes no difference.

0 thoughts on “Flash Light”

  1. I could enjoy a Baby Ruth while reading this Kimmy Ruth. Just when i thought poetic craft had been swallowed whole by convenience store prose-poetry along comes my Bradamantine in shining armor brandishing 3 similes and concentric metaphors! Kick ass! Spacing gives poem a slow searching probing kinda vibe which is highly reflective of subject material…nice touch! No doubt some will get hung up on the last line ‘such a thing it makes no difference’, i thought the grammatical change-up was essential for keeping delivery perky and reader on toes, perhaps much akin to Berryman’s use of inversion. Loved the read! I look forward to the book!

  2. I like the intestinal motif. And I even like the last line. But I just can’t get into this. I think it’s because of lines 7 through 11. To me, these lines read like something out of harlequin romance, especially “she flinched, / quivering like an unmade bed.” But perhaps I wouldn’t have such a problem with these lines if I knew what was going on. This might not be too difficult. Perhaps you could give us a more informative title?

  3. When I was younger I argued with my mom that making your bed was a pointless activity as you’d be sleeping in it that same day anyway. All that straightening just seemed like a bunch of busy work. I figured it was a motherly conspiracy to make her private morning time a few minutes longer.
    Moving out, the bed definitely needs making. A cold mattress is the worst way to end a day.
    I ate this and got a first night on the open floor as an all nude dancer. That can give you the jitters. Here, take my hand. There’s a twenty in it for you. “Gut Check” to your “Flash Light”. Enjoyed the show.

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