where day has turned dark
and hunched from a sky
pouring horizontal and white—
behind the runnels of mothballs
and memories, her diamond eyes
swept cold the boulevard, lost
to the winter freeze looping over
her like scarf and stole, when
the leaps of contrition died
a strange momentum just then—
she allowed herself this very
small relic of an anniversary gift,
waking up after a half bottle of pills
downed quickly on her deep-pink
tongue, pencil-thin legs dodged
hard stares, sinking with all that
had redeemed and spoiled—
A four-time Pushcart Prize, five-time Best of the Net & Bettering American Poetry nominee, Lana Bella is the author of three chapbooks, Under My Dark (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2016), Adagio (Finishing Line Press, 2016), and Dear Suki: Letters (Platypus 2412 Mini Chapbook Series, 2016), and has had poetry and fiction featured in Acentos Review, Barzahk, EVENT, The Fortnightly Review, Ilanot Review, Notre Dame Review, Rock & Sling, The Stillwater Review, Sundress Publications and Whiskey Island, among others. Her work appeared in Aeolian Harp Anthology, Volume 3. She resides in the U.S. and the coastal town of Nha Trang, Vietnam, where she is ‘mom of two far-too-clever-frolicsome imps.
