"Man is the only animal which devours its own kind." --Abraham Lincoln
The public panics; fevered hunt begins--
headlines howling, posters plastered,
masses come in drives, map out the grid, throw light
to dark corners, comb tall grasses, dredge
the waters, at night join hopeful hands, hold vigil
clutching to their chests her picture.
Have you seen her face?
The experts speculate, sniff and salivate,
imagine the psycho-surgeon's fridge:
one wholesome beauty sliced and bagged
bowlful of noses, cheese drawer of eyelids,
dimples like cherries stuffed in a jar
Elizabeth Johnston's poetry appears in a variety of print and online publications, most recently in The New Verse News, Rose Red Review, The Luminary, Mom Egg Review, and NonBinary Review. Forthcoming is work in Cahoodaloodaling, Carbon Copy, and Veils, Halos, and Shackles. She lives in Western NY with her husband and daughters, and teaches writing at Monroe Community College and the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester.