What Made Us
by Lily Starr
Everything we could paint brown
with all the dirt in my hometown
boots even when it’s hot out
black tshirt fatass
nobody where I’m from minds
a slick back puddleshoe angelface
my uncle who pushed his girlfriend
down the stairs on our family vacation
hole in the big toe of your ten pack sock
big enough for a prayer stone to fall out of rolled-up towel pillow
dirty tank top under your work shirt
lighter on the stove cold sore
four rings missing from the shower curtain
table with the block of wood under its wobbly leg
spaghetti three meals a day silver minivan like a minnow
ranch dressing stained ceilings
stolen office muffins in a white bag on the counter
my mother’s simple hands
the groundhog my dog killed out back
it wanted to live more than I did
Lily Starr is an eager and passionate student of poetry from Cecil County, Maryland. She earned her BA in English from Washington College in the spring of 2017 and is currently pursuing her MFA at Florida International University in Miami. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming in The Journal, Small Orange, SWWIM, Electric Literature, and elsewhere.
