Adam’s Rib

by Christine Elizabeth Ray

Adam’s rib

aches beneath my breast

titanium splinter

piercing my soul

constantly seeking

to penetrate my self-worth

deliver shame directly

to my bloodstream like a toxin

demands I atone

for eating the forbidden fruit

I still taste the crisp

sweet tart taste

of knowledge on my tongue

and will always

hunger

for more

* * * * *

© 2018 Christine Elizabeth Ray – All Rights Reserved

Christine Elizabeth Ray is an indie author and freelance editor who lives outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the creator of the blog Brave and Reckless and Managing Editor of The Sudden Denouement Literary Collective (Blood Into Ink, Sudden Denouement, Sudden Denouement Publishing, & Whisper and the Roar) as well as Indie Blu(e).  Her writing has been featured on SpillWords, fēlan poetry & visual zine, Nicholas Gagnier’s Swear to Me (2017), and his upcoming collection, All the Lonely People. Christine’s first book of poetry, Composition of a Woman, was published by Sudden Denouement Publishing in July of 2018. Her second book of poetry, The Myths of Girlhood, is scheduled for release later this year.