Avery Simmons

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An Ode to Dog and Bone

In the beginning God created dog and bone;

Condemned by creation and created for consumption,

The jeering jaws of inequality will always watch the woman.

With loose teeth I learned to loathe Eve, penitent

For my covered shoulders and saintly silence.

The bone made for and from the dog

betrayed both man and God out of hunger;

So I am cursed to always crave more.

Windmills of X-chromosomes convert pain into persistence,

but pigtail prayers and ladylike innocence

could not protect my garden or my thighs.

With flea bitten ankles she must swallow the knowledge of evil,

that Eve alone was exiled from Eden.

Girlhood s glass ceilings below grapevines,

And womanhood is worship.

Baptized in the water of the womb,

She sheds the blood of the covenant

and returns her rib as retribution.

Genesis 3:13 –

The first deceived was the woman,

so consecrated is the natural order of things:

Death returns dog to dust,

and dog returns woman to bone.

Like dust, she will always be inferior to her equal,

And man will righteously reclaim his rib.

So if I still feel deceit in my bones,

Which one?

Avery Simmons is a young creative writer, poet, and artist from Lexington Kentucky. Her poetry explores themes of nostalgia and pain, distilling her experiences with family, femininity, and mental Illness. She is a recent graduate of Henry Clay High School, and plans to attend University of Cincinnati in the fall.

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