Reflecting on cupped
hands and tangled limbs,
the mirror will show
what you missed:
Wrapped under your
reach, my palms
remain open, legs
paired sleeping snakes.
Forgive my mouth
for making no sound.
You never asked
what I had to say.
My name is Whitney Rio-Ross, and I hold a Master’s in Religion and Literature from Yale Divinity School. My work appears or is forthcoming in The Other Journal, The Windhover, and Adanna. I live in Nashville, TN, and work as an adjunct English instructor at Trevecca Nazarene University.