Rust

Two twined on a balcony,
she believes
it love, wrought with iron twills, 
              tendrils, balcony rail 
              pressed into her face,
he is just that strong she cannot not stop,

like arms holding her down
the first time, like wrought
             iron rotten, wet-gray
             weather inside the body
             of the word no
that oxidizes into nothing.

——

Mary Petralia is a semi-native of Central Florida, born in Brooklyn but transplanted to Florida while young. She considers herself an island girl and attributes this to her father’s native Sicilian blood. She is currently enrolled in the MFA Program at the University of Central Florida, where she is a nominee for the 2015 AWP Intro Journals Project, as well as a previous nominee for year 2014. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Kentucky Review, Eyedrum Periodically, Solarwyrm Press: Latchkey Tales, Brickplight and deadbeats. She lives on the east coast of Florida with her family.

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