the teacher
is talking
mental preparation
and sharp tools
don’t be Mateo
she says
Mateo being
the one
who most loves
scalpels
and since
it’s 8th grade
she says
keep it appropriate
cut away
from people
make shallow cuts
don’t wanna
hit an organ
don’t forget
to have fun
unless
you’re Mateo
then don’t forget
to be safe
make shallow cuts
and Eva’s
long ponytail
and blue
rubber
gloves
as she cuts
a lateral line
through
the flesh
the tiny
scissors
and her hand
which once
gripped
my pinky
now eerily
skilled
a liver
a stomach
a gall bladder
the esophagus
she looks up
at the camera
offers
the heart
to the world
she’s
no longer
mine
Nicole Callihan writes poems and stories. Her work has appeared in Kenyon Review, American Poetry Review, Thrush, Tin House, BOMB, Court Green, Conduit, and as a Poem-a-Day feature from the Academy of American Poets. She has a novella, The Couples, as well as several collections of poetry, most recently, ELSEWHERE, a collaboration with Zoë Ryder White, which won the Sixth Finch Chapbook Prize and was published in spring 2020. Learn more at www.nicolecallihan.com.