Melodie Bolt

B&E

Prepping for surgery
your nurse asks
about the scars on your forearms.
You laugh remembering
the sweltering July heat in ‘84
and your yearning for something new.
You picked the lake house
because they normally went up north
for the weekend, an escape
to cooler air and colder water.
There was nothing to do
but break the window
and undo the lock.
But shards of glass, ragged like shark teeth,
ripped your forearms.
You bled through the house
finally picking up a pocketful of jewelry
and a boombox. As you went to leave,
you heard the door behind creak open.
You bolted for the tree line,
boombox slapping your thigh as you ran
. He fired twice.
Rock salt burned your butt cheek and calves,
leaving divots the nurse can’t see,
reminding you of the time you spent locked up.


Melodie's YouTube video reading of "B&E"


Melodie confesses: "This poem was inspired by a few stories I heard when interviewing an ex convict. He spent his early teens years as a thief, stealing from empty homes. Eventually, he did a life sentence, 36 years 1 month and 14 days, for a B&E that went wrong."

MELODIE BOLT is a Flint citizen and poet. Her work has appeared in places such as Paper Dragon, Qua Literary Magazine, and Prairie Schooner.