Me and Pearl

we are
cannibal ash left-behinds
fading static on lost frequencies
doppelgängers of used-to-be

we are
hardscrabble nights
shattered shot glasses
dried up shimmies
curdled bits of blood

we are
idle spit dried to salt
on steamy blacktop
withered illusions
screwed up tattoos

we are
struggling steel in a hot metal world

Charlotte Hamrick’s poetry, prose, and photography has been published in numerous online and print journals, most recently including Mojave Heart Review, Flash Frontier, Barren Magazine, and Eunoia Review. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a finalist for the 15th Glass Woman Prize. She is a Contributing Editor and Social Media Associate for MockingHeart Review, and lives in New Orleans with her husband and a menagerie of rescued pets.