Gardens

matter matters, after all.

class sizes beget body count—
a certain sewing of bone meal.

sentence or bullet fragments?

riddle given two trajectories;
magazine, coupled connotations.

run-on or run away—approximation

as fragile as pre-frost transfers;
a timeline history books struggle to chronicle.

Meanwhile, division fails—

perpetual anniversaries
multiplied by subtraction.

a geometry of desiccation,
blood bouquets cast,

back spattered along an X-axis.

the learning curve seemingly too steep

to overcome, our children are left to don
formal wear for both prom and yet another

perennial funeral.

By Gina Marie Bernard

Biography:

Gina Marie Bernard is a heavily tattooed transgender woman, retired roller derby vixen, and full-time English teacher. She lives in Bemidji, Minnesota. Her daughters, Maddie and Parker, own her heart. Her chapbook Naked, Getting Nuder was a 2018-2019 Glass Chapbook series finalist, and has been accepted for publication by Clare Songbirds Press. Her work has recently appeared in The Hunger and Waccamaw Journal, and is forthcoming in Anomaly, Lavender Review, Riggwelter, Spider Mirror, and The Real Story.