by Emma Burger
Fingers intertwined
Torn open on horseback
Heels down
Bloodied fabric
Pink prom dress
Radio City
Morning after
Sidelines at the Pats game
Pearl ivory smiles
Professionally clean
Suntanned asscheeks
Worn leather saddles
Knee high chaps
False alarms
Sour Patch Kids
The youngest I’ve ever been
The oldest to date
Rustle of pom poms
Short shorts
Long gowns
Rockettes
Daily bread
Taps on bugle
End of days
The Patriots
Baby bumps
Dusk of girlhood
Covert sleepover
Undeveloped film
Endless summer
Tom Brady
Early exits
Riding crops
Initiation rites
Bloodied fabric
Firsts and onlys
Strangers now
****
Emma Burger is a Chicago-based writer, originally from New York City. She is the author of two novels,Little Rich Kids (2025) and Spaghetti for Starving Girls (2021). You can find her work in Hobart, X-R-A-Y Lit, and Rejection Letters, at emmaburgerwrites.com, or on Substack at emmakaiburger.substack.com. She is an essays editor at Zona Motel.