Hellfire

is where he takes a girl to let her know
she is something he could let go. Directs
girlfriend unbraid your hair, before the show,
collect the dress, thong underwear. Object
inspected in a filthy restroom, New York
City dungeon, southern bloom they brought
to auction for the night by some pitchforked
emcee to whomever might rent his naughty
special little whore who is changing him to some-
one more than just a dom who wants her pain.
He’s doing things he can’t explain, cum dumb
beholden to bottom feeders, his food chain.
Awakening inside his bed at dawn,
her body’s here. Her specialness is gone.

Kristin Garth is a Pushcart, Best of the Net & Rhysling nominated poet from Pensacola and a sonnet stalker. Her sonnets have stalked magazines like Five: 2: One, Yes, Glass, Luna Luna, Occulum, Drunk Monkeys, and other places. She is the author of eleven books of poetry including Pink Plastic House (Maverick Duck Press), Puritan U (Rhythm & Bones Press) and Candy Cigarette Womanchild Noir (The Hedgehog Poetry Press) and the forthcoming Flutter: Southern Gothic Fever Dream (TwistiT Press, 2020) and Dewy Decimals (Arkay Artists, 2020). Follow her on Twitter: (@lolaandjolie) and her website (kristingarth.com).