Brett Elizabeth Jenkins

The De-Evolution Of A Person

starts early. In the beginning, even as I grew, there were quiet subtractions happening in the tunnels of my heart. I learned what it was to lose, of course. And to have things taken away. My teeth fall out and new ones grow in. Even growing hurts, my knees ache with existence, I turn in my bed and my bones quake together. I touch my first dead hand. I stomp bugs and sneak out and I want trouble to find me, but am inexplicably kept safe, for a while.

Brett Elizabeth Jenkins lives and writes in Saint Paul. She is the author of the chapbook Ether/Ore (NAP, 2012) and co-author of the ebook Love Stories/Hate Stories (NAP, 2012). Look for her work in Beloit Poetry Journal, PANK, Potomac Review, RHINO, and elsewhere.