{"id":3199,"date":"2022-01-31T19:22:19","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T03:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/willowspringsmagazine\/?p=3199"},"modified":"2024-12-11T11:29:36","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T19:29:36","slug":"chico-the-child-eater-by-miguel-murphy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inside.ewu.edu\/willowspringsmagazine\/chico-the-child-eater-by-miguel-murphy\/","title":{"rendered":"“Chico the Child-Eater” by Miguel Murphy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"issue55\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Found in\u00a0Willow Springs 55<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to Author Profile<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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“Chico the Child-Eater” by Miguel Murphy<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

I spit one<\/p>\n\n\n\n

seed of the watermelon to the floor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it shakes its six legs & walks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

back into the ear of the dead orange cat. You<\/p>\n\n\n\n

bark like the son of dogs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

living triumph over the corpse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of small lion. What purple<\/p>\n\n\n\n

night did you trot out of in your sick<\/p>\n\n\n\n

yellow mask? Yellow like a killed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

killer wasp, hungry & jaundiced<\/p>\n\n\n\n

with abandonment, mutt you bare teeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sharper than a breadbox stuffed with forks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

at night. You smell fear,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a mother over the stroller of a newborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you steal<\/p>\n\n\n\n

your first child the blue morning’s clean<\/p>\n\n\n\n

as a drink from the wrist<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of a blonde-haired virgin, her lips softer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

than rain pearls on coxcomb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’ve come out of darkness it must be the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A family that tied you to a pole<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the yard-white hiss of grass<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to gnaw your own paw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

before the rope tore off a crooked tooth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now eat what you can little lost coyote,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

scavenging railroads<\/p>\n\n\n\n

until one day the sweetest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

small cry from a window<\/p>\n\n\n\n

makes you weak. You smell it, breath<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of breast milk, sour clover, pears. Whiff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

of love, because you heard it call ……… And when<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you lift your snout from the fat bowl<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you’re wearing a red beard! O mongrel,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

no mother can escape the dream of your third eye<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the curl of your lip like a politician’s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

hysterical smile. I lie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to my landlord & say<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you don’t exist. I feed you crisp apples & you tongue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

one long fang dean in a moon yawn.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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