Susan Ayres
Susan Ayres is a poet, lawyer, and translator. She holds an MFA in creative writing with a concentration in translation from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a PhD in literature from Texas Christian University. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in many journals, including Sycamore Review, Cimarron Review, Valparaiso Review. She lives in Fort Worth and teaches at Texas A&M University School of Law. She can be reached at https://psusanayres.com/
BIRTH ORDER
Lucia raised
her to speak Spanish,
to rush home from preschool
and eat a big plate of sopa de arroz.
Lucia loved
her more.
I resented that Lucia blamed me
for her concussion,
I wanted her dead.
We crashed
the tricycle riding downhill.
I watched her eat mothballs
that had fallen from the netted
peach trees.
I served them
with tea on tiny plates.
Sheila-Na-Gig online 