Odin Meadows
podunk, USA
With the scraping tool in the back
of my mouth she asks, Do you have
any poems you’re working on right now?
She retracts the tool. I tell her I’m thinking about how God
named Eve “mother,” but neither she nor Adam knew what
that word meant. Ah, yes. Eve. The split of the twin flame.
You know, they made whole churches just for Mary.
I hum, sort of. She cleans, scrapes, and scrapes me clean.
The sun is male and water is female. All the rain
and water, that’s women. We’re seeing that coming
back, like it should. Men just have certain jobs.
I gag on the suction tool, and she wipes the spit
from my chin. She tells me my gum health has improved
since last year. I give her a thumbs-up she can’t see.
In my skull, my teeth shine and ache.
Good for biting. Good for eating fruit.
Odin Meadows is a first-generation graduate with a BA in English from Yale University currently living in the Midwest with his husband and two dogs, not too far from the rural town where he grew up. His work has appeared in manywor(l)ds, Impossible Archetype, Palette Poetry, and more.
Artwork: “Swimmer” by Daniel Lurie
Digital