M.M. PORTER
LOCALS NORTHERN MICHIGAN
We’re in a Pyrex county with
ziplocked shores. Cheese
Shanty floods & sells
its windows, while downtown
Oakwood Proper
opens garage door
burgers. The Boardman
splayed with late-night
fry, J&S turns teenagers
into 24-hour runaways. None
of that matters
‘cause nobody knows
our side of M-22:
Bobby dates Melany, loves
Molly, & baits
Andy. Picket-
fenced his feelings, cataloging all
things fuchsia.
The important news:
8th Street renovation
while 14th parades above. Look:
Molly fucks Kyle ’cause wanting
Bobby hurts, &
all the while she teases our
senior class. Bungling this high-ropes
finger play,
tracking ’round sayings—
Language
after a time.
& Kyle’s gettin’ out of this canister,
hatin’ Bobby, datin’ Molly,
Wisconsining to Elliot.
After a while, it gets old.
We waterwork
from tupperware towns, throwing
echos like
leftovers.
M. M. Porter is attending Ohio University to pursue her PhD in English with an emphasis in Poetry. She is a graduate of the MFA poetry program at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro where she served as a poetry editor fo The Greensboro Review. She has been published or has poems forthcoming in Epiphany, The Shore, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Originally from Michigan, you can find her work at mm-porter.com.
Author Index: M.M. Porter
Twisted River Review ~ Issue 0: Editor’s Release