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shoulders

by Lindz McLeod

When we drove up the coast.

I saw so many bodies.

Two hedgehogs, one seagull. I have questions—

what happened to the gull? I can understand

The hedgehogs but not the gull; surely, surely

it would have been higher, freer,

not stuck to the gluedried earth.

like I am. I would never have flown near

any car         if I was a gull.

I would remember

To avoid people.

One hare too, but that was different.

The ribcage was exposed, a bite taken from the

Heart            body left intact

A fitting warning.

The stars have dusted you with love;

they cried out while my lips compared.

I swallow all your thrown mistakes,

the grape-sour taste of lesson learned.

I wonder how fast we need to be going

For the asphalt to knock me out.

About the Author

Lindz McLeod lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her work has been longlisted for the Fish Publishing Flash Fiction prize; her short stories have been published on 365 Tomorrows, Dreamscape Press and more, while others are available in the Twisted Aardvark Flash Fiction anthologies on Amazon. She has published poetry with Wingless Dreamer; more will be published shortly with PsychoScope. She is a committee member of the Edinburgh Writer’s Club, and is currently reading for a Masters in Creative Writing.

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