3 poems

By Halsey Hyer

Flashback No. 1

You show up with a bottle
of wine you bought for the underage
girl you tried to fuck
in the backseat of my Honda
while I was at work that night. 

I’m surprised
this time you didn’t force it on her,
like you do me— 

I say no, you keep me
still against passenger window
your hand on the back of my neck
my face smashed open,
cheeks covered in spit. 

You drive in the storm one-handed,
not even the windshield wipers
can move the rain away. 

I punch myself in the thighs
cut my palms open
with my untrimmed fingernails
curled into fists 

& my no’s turn to yes’s
as you ask me
between grit teeth
Do you want to die?

 

Get Out

If he receives mail & has any possessions in the home,
he’s legally allowed to reside.
—Millvale Borough Police Department   

It started with the switchblade,

                                                            neckline to seam, your t-shirts confetti.

  

                                    Guitar neck snaps against the flat screen TV.

 

I am the jab of broken records

                                    

                                                on the underside of my naked body,

 

arms & legs spread making snow angels

            

                                    in your 45’s. Fleetwood’s Rumours plays,

 

the only one I didn’t smash.

Psychosis in July

Midsummer I shiver
on our welcome mat 

my words buzz out
of my lips. All I say 

die please kill
me / you told me / you
you would / you 

would kill / kill / me / I
I / know / you would!
& you tell me you’re going to 

usher me into shotgun seat
I hold the knife in my hand

I am tired of this fucking game
I tried to saw my arm off  

in front of the PNC ATM
with a switchblade 

because you told me
you didn’t want to get framed 

that’s what you said
when I tried to jump onto Route 28
right above the 31st Street Bridge 

you said you’d rather go too
you said it wasn’t fair 

if I got to die
& you didn’t.

halseyhyer_picture_2021.jpg

Halsey Hyer

Halsey Hyer is earning their MFA in Poetry at Florida International University while assistant teaching in the Writing & Rhetoric Program. They’re an Editor for Seven Kitchens Press, Associate Editor of Pittsburgh Poetry Journal, member & mentor of the Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops, and collective member of The Big Idea Bookstore. Their poem, "Boy Wears Bra," was selected as a finalist for the 2021 James Hearst Poetry Prize. Their poems can be found or are forthcoming in North American Review, Rappahannock Review, The Blue Nib, Voices From the Attic XXV, and elsewhere.