Nine of Cups (Reversed)

Swimming with Megalodons
by Amy Alexander

Metal chairs on bare legs call for
bad girl confessions:
    how far did you go?

In the hot spring saltwater
we stand on stones – burning slow
to the deep

Habitats of prehistory
have turned to silt
but shark habits remain
    and we want them
    a little more each time

Fingers submerge to flirt:
a fleeting touch of skin
more sandpaper than silk
mechanical – a fin press
felt down to our toes
a tortured to-and-fro

We grow teeth of our own
binge on cartilage soup
and go back to school – hair combed
just in time for the first bell

    how far did you go?
    good girls never tell

Amy Alexander (she/her) is a poet and visual artist whose recent book, The Legend of the Kettle Daughter (Hedgehog Poetry Press), has been described as a children’s picture book for adults. She is currently at work on a follow-up book with Hedgehog Poetry Press called The Parcel Child’s Song. Her work is forthcoming in Pink Plastic House and Louisiana Literature, and she lives in Baton Rouge with her husband, kids, and five rescue pets.