HIDDEN OAKS

Valeria Eden

we were soft-hearted,
sticky lip gloss, bathroom stall girls,

puberty-ripe on the edge of rot.
we were one swipe glitter
and two swipes blue eyeshadow

across lids half-closed to blue
light in 6th grade computer class.

mr. dean was friendly,

and always complimented
the girls, let us eat in his
classroom during lunch and we

were weeping wounds

waiting to burst locked door
to headline. back then,

we did not yet know
alarm bells can be so
similar to the sound
of a man laughing.

Valeria Eden is a poet and editor who loves to write about the things that
haunt her. She is the author of Tender Teeth (Jack Wild Publishing) and has
work in or forthcoming at Wasteland Review, Eunoia Review, Arcana Poetry
Press, and Stone Circle Review. She holds a BA in Psychology from Boston
University and an MFA from Naropa University. She has three dogs, two
therapists, one boyfriend, and her favorite color is green.

© Variant Literature Inc 2023