print previewback JESSICA FRANCK
Eve as 16-Year-Old Girl Who Eats an Earthworm on a Dare
He says I’ll wimp out.
I say part the earth
flexing the muscle
of my tongue to startling
effect. I am most tempted
when told I can’t or I won’t.
In gym class, I hurt him
when we’re the only ones
left running the PACER
test. I go & go faster until
we both collapse. I can’t help
proving him wrong. He says
vagina when he means
vulva. It’s in the root
of words, I recognize
I am made for spectacle.
Candy wrapper. Sword
swallower. I show him
the dictionary & discover
the definition for penis
is longer than my parts
combined. As if he means
more than me. I want to shake
his belief, take him in my hand
& demonstrate how his body
is built to deplete. He’s the wilted.
I wasn’t made so weak. Since I can
remember, I’ve been drawn
to morphology. I open
my mouth while I eat
to teach him what happens
inside of me. I halve
a worm between my teeth
and let both ends writhe.
Just like that, I multiply. 
Annunciation
Eve as 16-Year-Old Girl Who Eats an Earthworm on a Dare
Eve as Girl with Snake Duty in 7th Grade Science