How Would You Rate Your Pain?

by Max Gillette

0. No Hurt:

Honk if you love me—honk like you mean it. Honk if you think I’m so beautiful you want to pull me out of this car and kiss me at the intersection of Cherry Hill and Outer Drive. Ho you
Honk if you love me—honk like you mean it. Honk if you think I’m so beautiful you want to pull me out of this car and kiss me at the intersection of Cherry Hill and Outer Drive. Ho you

2. Hurts a Little Bit:

Almost gnat-like—this annoyance of flesh, this cicada sound between bones. A summer thrumming before the storm—gentle June warning in the form of heat lightning. Condensation collecting on the glass pitcher. The first slipped stitch. A deep breath held in rain.

4. Hurts a Little More:

Static. Warning: volume may cause hearing damage. Cover your ears and pray. Static. Hard to say what anyone’s saying these days. Static. Don’t fight the waves; stronger men than you have drowned.

6. Hurts Even More:

Such simple stuff—this chemical [ ] flow. All of us—more animal [ ] human. Problem is, synapses [ ] firing wrong— [ ] fast. More animal. Hear [ ] howl.

8. Hurts a Whole Lot:

untethered   curling         pinch

jaws dim

free-fall                             void snap

10. Hurts the Worst:

Max Gillette is an English major at Central Michigan University, where they work on the editing team for two student-focused publications. Their poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in HAD, Spoonie Press, Cutbow Quarterly, Celestite Poetry, Moss Puppy Magazine, and elsewhere.