breaking the fishing line by Sam Kendall

 

i hadn’t noticed the scar snagging the corner of her mouth

like a wound in the cheek of a twice-caught bass
until a certain tender night
i asked what she was thinking

she said everyone else was a shithead
i was a shithead too but she liked kissing me
she did and i felt the hole in her lip
capped with a few years’ dried blood

i felt the tempo of the heartbeat under the scab
how many fractions of a tongue across
how many fifths of a tooth deep
i memorized it & wondered if it was worth anything

 

---

 

 

SAM KENDALL works in trucking and lives in Charlotte, NC with five humans, three dogs, and a snake.