The Pretty Thing to Do | Colleen O'Connor

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Colleen O'Connor received her MFA in nonfiction from Columbia College. She lives in Chicago, where she is the managing editor of Switchback Books. 

 

 

Centerfold

 

The binding gets

in the way but

the spine doesn’t

lie it tells all

and marks

the place where

you spent the most

time it freezes

the spot where

you paused

it’s been fifteen

minutes now since

we last spoke is this

over now am I

flattened against

this waiting now

glossed against

this flat waiting

stuck in the same

pose for fifteen

minutes forever

waiting I am so

pressed a button

deflated and sewn

waiting to perform

its holding because

that’s what buttons

do they’re pushed

I wish I could

pull my skin

pull out my

pink swells my

furrows and folds

the lucky ones

get to pull

and roll their skin

fast and rushing

but instead

I’m pushed I’m

flattened and I’m

always pressed

against.