I walk on moving floors with balance.
I handstand in barrels. No puff of air lifts
my skirt. I hit dunk tank bulls-eyes
& sweet spots of bottle pyramids.
I know to use the tracks to body-
check riders beside me once we leave
the platform. I steel my stomach
to sticks of butter, deep-fried.
I eat fire. I pull tractors & then
catch oiled pigs. I stitch wounds
with horse hair plucked straight
from the mane. I’ve kept my teeth.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 16, Issue 3.
Jennifer Jackson Berry lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Harpur Palate, Connotation Press, and Green Mountains Review, among others. She is the author of the chapbooks When I Was a Girl (Sundress Publications) and Nothing But Candy (Liquid Paper Press).
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