i have never written a sex poem before

it’s building up inside me

i can feel it a little bit

i guess i’m scared that if it spills out it will feel sad

like milk

or whiskey

one time when i was nine i was practicing baton twirling in the living room

i was spinning so fast with my baton and feeling beautiful

and then there was glass in pieces on the floor

and i was looking down at bloody arms

again and again

i guess I’m scared that it will feel like

getting too close to something breakable

while wearing a pink and purple leotard
 
 
Ally Batchelder is a student at University of Vermont. She’s written some poems for Screaming Seahorse and has been published by Thought Catalog. Her blog is called secretnationalpark.blogspot.com. She’s cranky.