DO NOT WAIT

for any man to come and gather you
the wildflower doesn’t beg the bee.

They will watch you wither
in the drought of desire 

and call your fading 
proof you were never gold.

But still you sat in the surf 
with your bones showing,

with salt in your teeth, 
upon a throne of foam and ruin.

Waiting as the tide pulled
your name from your lips.

Allison Bothley is a writer and recovering MFA (The New School) who lives in Orangeville, Ontario. Her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, White Wall Review, Sad Girl Diaries, Literary Review of Canada, and elsewhere. She is the creator and publisher of Bangs Zine, an independent space hot for big feelings, emerging writers, and lazy Sunday readers.