I wore a turquoise donkey bead
on a thong around my neck—

choker, bead and knot resting
in the space between collarbones.

Glass eye facing outward from my wrist
pupil of deep blue defending against malevolence

that wandered high school halls.
Perhaps forgetting to say “Rabbit Rabbits”

before opening eyes on the first day of the month
explained everything.

I have a fitness tracker clipped to my shirt
as if I could outrun the apocalypse

pocket full of dog treats
to throw to the beast.

Alison Hicks’s latest collection of poems is Homing. She was awarded the 2021 Birdy Prize from Meadowlark Press for Knowing Is a Branching Trail. Previous collections are You Who Took the Boat Out and Kiss. Her work has appeared in Gargoyle, Permafrost, Poet Lore, and Smartish Pace. She is founder of Greater Philadelphia Wordshop Studio, which offers community-based writing workshops.

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