BURST by Zarina Zabrisky

my breasts burst backwards:
armored artichoke bullets from the inside,
jigsaw puzzle petals from the outside.

they strip
blue lingerie lace—
its sick transparency—
layer by layer

they rip my skin
viscera
the silky insides of blood vessels
the gentle velvet of capillaries

they split my ribs
bone splinters sticking out
marrow blows up
into inky splatters of
Japanese scrolls

and my shoulder blades
morph into blazing birds behind me

tails of dark liquid fire,
wings alarming and striking,

and naked
clad in flight

i am free of the chains of the skyway

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Zarina Zabrisky is the author of short story collections Iron and A Cute Tombstone (Epic Rites Press), and a novel We, Monsters (Numina Press). Zabrisky's work appeared in over thirty literary magazines and anthologies in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Hong Kong, and Nepal. She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and a recipient of 2013 Acker Award. Visit Zabrisky at www.zarinazabrisky.com.