Erin Belieu was born and raised in Nebraska and is the author of five poetry collections, including Slant Six, named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times, and Come Hither Honeycomb (Copper Canyon Press, 2020). Belieu is cofounder of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and the founder of the Writers Resist network. She teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Houston and for the Lesley University low-residency MFA program in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Pity

by Erin Belieu

Once I took it in my mouth, I had to
admit, pity tastes good, like the sandwiches

they make in French patisseries, the loaf smeared
with force-fed organs, crust that shreds the skin behind


your teeth. So bless the tongue’s willingness,
People on couch
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