The Girl Who Stays One Day by Jeri Thompson

She’s going into prostitution
when she’s 18, she brags.
Daddy broke her down like a puzzle,
and she leans all her pieces
against Wesley
whenever he stands still.
She writes on his hand,
property of,  in felt tip pen,
which he shows me days later.

I avoid her eyes
as we pass each other in the ward.
She wears midnight like a cape.
Her face, a kaleidoscope of shadows.
(previously published in The Beautiful Space)

About the Poet:

Jeri Thompson lives and writes in Long Beach, Ca and has her degree from CSULB. She is in numerous publications, including; Chiron Review, The Fox Poetry Box, Carnival Lit Magazine, Silver Birch Press (Silver, Green, and Summer editions), Red Light Lit, and most recently Anti Heroin Chic.