chewing what she pulled from

the lawn     insects shickandshickandshick, pause

in the sticky weeds     she licked the end of her braid

the milking shed made her faint     smelling bleach and

cheese and vomit from the wet concrete     the suck

suck suck of the machines     metal, rubber fingers

on the cows’ tits     don’t worry, they can’t feel it

heavy breath, grunt of the animals     her older cousins

pinched her neck     she cried stop and rubbed the bruise

drifted through the fallow field to the faucets at the

screened-in porch, knelt and put her mouth

on the iron bitter spigot with its hot water

welts rose on her calves, thighs

from some tiny thing, biting and persistent

Christine Hamm (NY)  is a PhD candidate in English Literature at Drew University. She is the author of one full-length collection of poems, The Transparent Dinner (Mayapple Press, 2006) and several chapbooks including The Animal Husband and The Salt Daughter.