by Florianne Che
No. Only when distressed or threatened will these peaceful creatures
emit a shrill shriek. But hey, did you know that I was silent as my
grandmother beat me into scarlet? Lips bitten, words swallowed,
I was struck into obedience. Additionally, these furry mammals you
have come to know as cute critters are herbivores! Rabbits’ diets typically
consist of fresh vegetables, fresh flesh, flesh, flesh, flesh. I wonder if
their tongues like the shape of death, like mine does. When I was on the
ground, lapping up my fortune tainted by debt, I tasted something new: a
sensation like expired ecstacy tossed into open hands. And it reminds me of
how voraciously a rabbit tears into its prey; teeth hidden under a
coat of deceit, ripping, rupturing, rescinding back into the soil. I
take discipline into my stomach and reject it through the same process.
Out into the open with hands to dirt, mouth to nature, I may
cry out when given too much. Another fun fact: my father’s rodents
once watched, red-eyed, as I cornered myself into teaching. They
remind me of patience. Tell me, does authority slip down your
throat with the same ease as iron?
Florianne Che has ten fingers and uses each of them for toasting bagels, playing dissonant melodies on the piano, mindless tapping, origami, plucking at loose hairs, peeling oranges, and sometimes nothing at all.
scissors & spackle 