“Reception” by Meghan Giles
Liquored, you drive us
while the other couples
are honeymooned in their hotels.
That rose bouquet I caught,
dying, already, and we
pass the spot where you pulled over
and hit me, hit me
next to wildflowers and tar.
How my tin can bruise
has bloomed like bluebonnets
outgrown of soil skin, a handful
of bluebonnets, a yellow yarrow,
two prairie larkspurs, pressed
between tissue, a tattoo raised
on my thigh, there, peeking
out beneath the cotton
foliage of my dress—a gift.
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Meghan E. Giles Artist Statement:
Meghan E. Giles is a west Texas native who received her MFA at McNeese State University. Her
poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry, South Dakota
Review, The Dock: Hayden’s Ferry Review Online, and elsewhere. She was a contributor at the
2015 Sewanee Writers’ Conference.
