I Love the Way Men Love

I want to trade wife
for whiskey, to know my way around
a steak knife. To be the exit,
not the wound. But I was raised
without men, to remember
and remain.

Once, I walked in on my uncle
walking out on his marriage.
Once, a girl loved me
into leaving.

Uncle, make a brother
from my borrowing.

Erin Jin Mei O'Malley is a 2016-2017 Speedwell Scholar in Germany. She is the Co-Editor of Sooth Swarm Journal, and her work appears or is forthcoming in The Ellis Review, Alexandria Quarterly, and others. You can find her at explorationsoferin.com.