I gave myself bangs with cheap scissors in the middle of the night,“I can’t say I know what abandonment is like” he says,as I watch the Hoodoo practitioner pull Spanish Moss from a jar.“Can you imagine eternity?”She takes the tiny cloth bag and three rusty nails clink.“Did your mom rid you of evil eye and American sin?”He asks me what to take to a work potluck and how to use his health insurance.“I don’t know why I miss Anthony Bourdain so much…” muttered at the end of therapy.Probably the same reason I never felt like myself in a humid church.“Did you ever watch that movie? Past Lives?” because he’s happiest in a language I’ll never fully understand.“The algorithm suggested a documentary on maternal mortality rates in the mountains of Nepal”-I watch another tired mother’s bones shift into their new home as her belly turns soft.I miss his crystal covered hands the most.Anointed six times with oil and red lipstick.“That’s a pretty dress”,I knew what I was doing.

Poetry·Vol. XIV · Issue 4 · September 2026
16 Lines of Rejection as a List Poem
Central artwork: Max Fernekes, “Doll,” 1935/1942. Index of American Design, National Gallery of Art; public domain.
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About the writer
Britni Newton. Britni’s words can be found in Amethyst Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, Funicular Magazine, Wishbone Words and others. She takes inspiration from both the pain and pleasure of everyday life, familial folklore, and occasionally the antics of her three spoiled cats. She’s based in the Midwest.
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