Poetry | Issue 1 (April 2023)

my body made milk

poured it into my kid’s mouth

along with my best intentions

strong teeth, antibodies

only liquid gold 

for six years 

not knowing I was

transferring nonbiodegradables

give her the bottle

and she’d collect 1.5 million 

PVC particles 

instead 

after milk I give

her shrimp and fish

polymer feeders, all three

at the beach she swallows 

seawater, in between dips 

I watch her

breathe plastics in air 

drink pure water that isn’t

actually pure 

draw and devour 

moon-shaped chips

from a blue plastic packet

every day I realize she 

might as well be eating 

herself