when I was six years old,
my father taught me how to ride my bike
in a cemetery. this was
the first time that I realized that
the only thing worse than being dead
is being a first grader with terrible
motor skills
who crashes into headstones
like a belligerent miniature circus clown
playing whack-a-mole target practice
with slabs of stone instead of
smiling plastic rodents who will still peek
through the soil with their disgusting
adorable grin even as you continue to
accidentally ruin their non-sentient lives—
to the ghost-owners of the mausoleum
whose steps I crashed into and
chipped my tooth on
when I was seven, I'm sorry.
I never told my father. (the tooth fairy
sends her regards.)
Bio:
Maia Foley (writing under her middle name, Maia Joy) is a college student and writer from Boston, MA. She is currently studying music and creative writing (poetry concentration) at the University of Maryland, where She is a member of the Jimenez-Porter Writers’ House. Her work has been published in Star 82 Review and Dreams Walking, among others, and newer work can be found on her website linked below.