Millie Tullis
I knew it all my life
and still it was news
when I reached
her age of marriage
and found myself
in love
I am here
because his body
fell and no one saw
my mother at home
in her body
fleshing out
my older brother
and now even I am
older than she was
when her parents
knocked with the news
dead in their mouths
we sing
on his birthday
we loosen
eight balloons
Millie Tullis is an MFA poetry candidate at George Mason University. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Sugar House Review, Rock & Sling, Cimarron Review, Ninth Letter, Juked, and elsewhere. She serves as the Assistant Editor for Best of the Net and Poetry Editor and Social Media Manager for Phoebe. She also reads for Poetry Daily. You can find her on twitter @millie_tullis.