of quicksand & tar pits & pterodactyls after religiously watching The Flintstones,  
of  inhaling a peanut after Grandpa Walter showed us the X-ray of one in his lung,  
of Shel Silverstein’s photo on the back cover of The Giving Tree,  
of a handmade Virgin Mary statue in my parents’ closet after Dad revealed they saw her move,  
of my teacher who tied my left hand behind my back & made me write with my right,  
of spontaneous human combustion,  
of pictures with the Cherry Hill Mall Santa, 
of a stapler after getting my wrist stuck to my teacher’s green bulletin board, 
of what Mom told me I should fear:  

Grandma’s radioactive Fiestaware  
& color TV’s & microwave ovens  
& red M&M’s & the bug spray truck  
& drinking out of other people’s glasses— 

of God, when Mom declared He gives girls babies when they’re ready— 

Does God ever get it wrong?  
as I swallow my wad of Juicyfruit  
& imagine it stuck with the others inside my belly. 

Victoria Nordlund's poetry collections Wine-Dark Sea and Binge Watching Winter on Mute are published by Main Street Rag. She is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize Nominee, whose work has appeared in PANK Magazine, Rust+Moth, Chestnut Review, Maudlin House, trampset, and elsewhere. Visit her at VictoriaNordlund.com