Going First

by Holly Day

“I want to” she cuts the lengths of rope

“I want to” four for them and one for her

“This is for you” would be so easy to do it

there is a letter in the hallway addressed to you:

a list of how you could stop this.

So long as she only creeps down the hall

and makes no sound as she enters their rooms

and makes no sound as she ties the knots tight

nobody will know until it’s too late.

* * * * *

Holly Day has taught writing classes at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, since 2000. Her poetry has recently appeared in Big Muddy, The Cape Rock, New Ohio Review, and Gargoyle, and her published books include Walking Twin Cities, Music Theory for Dummies, Ugly Girl, and The Yellow Dot of a Daisy. She has been a featured presenter at Write On, Door County (WI), North Coast Redwoods Writers' Conference (CA), and the Spirit Lake Poetry Series (MN). Her newest poetry collections, A Perfect Day for Semaphore (Finishing Line Press) and I'm in a Place Where Reason Went Missing (Main Street Rag Publishing Co.) will be out late 2018.