Talia Hincks

Talia Hincks is a senior at Rider University, where she studies English, Professional Writing & Publishing, and Management & Leadership. She is president of the Aikido Club; a member of the National English honor’s society, Sigma Tau Delta; and head fiction-editor of Venture, Rider’s University’s literary Magazine. Talia is passionate about writing and literature, and she is interning with the Norton College Sales department this spring.

Chew on my bones so you can feel my heartbeat
Consuming, captivating, grinding in your teeth.
Curl deep into my organs, let us not be discrete,
Know every inch and corner. Wear me as a wreath.

I’ll sit behind your molars, where wisdom used to lie,
And upon my hallowed skin you’ll taste not’ but pride
Sinking on your tongue, searing in my flesh. Deny
Me no river stones buried deep within my breast

Instead use sturdy hands, dig deep within my soul;
Grasp the water worn edges of hurt I used to know.
And free it from my veins, which tangle for control:
The roots of an old willow tree struggling to let go.

Your phantom palms pull apart my ribs, label them with care.
Make a million whispered promises, convey them with your stare.
Forehead on mine, breath intertwined, show me I’m not alone.
Condemn the barren future, for I hunger to be known.