Nicole Cartwright Denison lives on a trout farm in the mountains of western North Carolina. Work has appeared or is forthcoming in Alba, The CommonLine Project, elimae, reimagining place: The Ecotone Blog, The Blue Fifth Review and others. You can find her on the web and driving through the river gorge.
Recovering the Body
we found her along the edge of town,
skirting the sands,
five miles from anywhere,
a pale candle melting in a noon sun
she was sundry, impossibly bland,
a not-quite blonde
who passed through
lurking about, looking for trouble,
for something she tossed out the window
of a car, traveling fast through gravel
through the past,
past a navel
panties bloomed a poppy red,
face shamed the same tone, face
downward toward the pool,
a mired thing, warmly leaking
telltale images of yesterday:
the topdown drive of carefree brunettes,
a stern face on a wall at home
tiny beads bound to a box,
pushed to the back of the drawer
all forgotten with the first blow
the last sound of no
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