Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy is a retired Registered Nurse who has always been a writer. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including The Ekphrastic World, edited by Lorette Luzajic, The Plague Papers, edited by Robbi Nester, and recent issues of Gyroscope, 3rd Wednesday, Caustic Frolic, Inscribe, and Verse Virtual . Her collection How to Become Invisible is now available from Kelsay books.
Ceremonies
Fileting the cold
bright scaled fish
alone in the morning kitchen
fear is the knife that fits
my hand yet threatens
to slip, its keen edge
hungry for the soft
pale flesh and the red hot
pulse just beneath
its surface
Safety lives inside
the curve of your arm
elbow and wrist
snug around my shoulders
steady as the floor
we stand on
Unembarrassed by my skill
with knives
learning just how to breach
these bodies
with their scaly armor
their subtle sharp
and hidden bones
navigating past defenses
without the mess
of split spilt guts
spoiling the delicate
meat I rinse
at the sink
keeping what’s left
for baiting traps
wasting not an ounce
of sacrifice
