perhappened mag
issue 13: SALTWATER
to the only other
bald girl on the beach
TAYLOR GARRISON
whose head reflects the persistent sun
like a shark’s eye or pearlescent inside
of a conch. i noticed immediately
despite the banana boat stench
& slap of the repetitive tide.
remember the summer, the whole beach
closed due to a stranded whale? its eyes
drifting closed & crusting with sand.
its body too heavy, too cumbersome
for local ships to haul away & tie down
with explosives, they buried it slowly
grain of sand after grain of sand.
the danger of possibility. it’s not a myth:
whales can explode under the right conditions.
a woman leans under my umbrella & says
get well soon to my body, bubbling open.
like a shark’s eye or pearlescent inside
of a conch. i noticed immediately
despite the banana boat stench
& slap of the repetitive tide.
remember the summer, the whole beach
closed due to a stranded whale? its eyes
drifting closed & crusting with sand.
its body too heavy, too cumbersome
for local ships to haul away & tie down
with explosives, they buried it slowly
grain of sand after grain of sand.
the danger of possibility. it’s not a myth:
whales can explode under the right conditions.
a woman leans under my umbrella & says
get well soon to my body, bubbling open.
Taylor Garrison holds a BA in history from Muhlenberg College. She is a 2020 Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets fellow. Taylor's work can be found in the Adroit Journal, Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle, and elsewhere. Follow her at @taygarrs on Instagram or Twitter.