bio
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Coco is a Pasadena poet, public speaker, and performance artist. Her work is born of trauma and overcoming medical impossibilities. Writing is her secret to enduring. She is the author of Unicorn Psychosis, a collection of poetry, and has been published in Lummox 8, the Altadena Poetry Review (2019), Spectrum, and through Animal Heart Press. She is Spectrum Publishing’s Historian, Los Angeles Poet Society’s Archivist, Askew Lit co-host, and Fall 2019 Inscape Director of Operations – Chief Consulting Editor. Coco also loves being a mother, mentor, and mental health advocate.
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Backstabber |
I wonder if you clean that knife
the one you jab everyone in the back with
Do you wipe it off with a sanitized towelette
or just let the blood dry off on its own
Maybe you use it so much that
I contracted several deadly diseases
Is it always out
ready to pierce, slice, or
drive right into trust
Hard to see it coming from oblivious loyalty
my peripheral vision only caught your smile
The decent thing would be to
at least be quick about it
But oh no you push it through as if
time lapse was programmed into this moment
Twist ever so slightly left a quarter turn, right a quarter turn
then try an unsuccessful 360 to finish the job
You act like you’re the first
did you not see all the deep scars
On my cutting board
of a backside
I salt and lemon that shit I’m so used to the pain
I need a little extra something to make sure I still feel
You may think this is enough to kill me off
to shut me up
to get what you need
to feel like a man
to put me in my place
to teach me a lesson
to whisper
“you asked for this”
If I asked for this then why would you need
to stab me from behind
copyright 2020
Coco |
