strikeout

paint me a picture, but
don’t use paint. instead,
use the pizza grease and
ketchup bottle of the local
bowling alley to create
your masterpiece. Better
yet, suck it up and slip
on those air-freshened
shoes and bet on a game
of ten simple frames. can’t
do it? afraid you’ll lose?
well, me too. Even though
my banner hangs high
over lane 11, I’d miss
every pin if it meant
you’d play again.

***

the perfect game

don’t worry about bringing
your painter’s palette. I’m
not letting you walk away
this time. my preferred paint
brush is a fifteen-pound, red-
and-blue bowling ball, gold
etching calling out the score,
oil line begging me for more,
second arrow deep in my core.

still, my banner waves.
still my banner waves still
my banner waves, echoing
the raw power of a younger
player who no longer misses
pins for the unknown
promise of a stranger.

***

Marianna Pizzini Mankle (she/her/hers) is a Montana native calling Nebraska home. Her writing is in Pile Press, Writeresque Literary Magazine, Querencia Press, Written Tales, and more. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling with her husband, building LEGO sets, or curled up with a book. Pictures of her life can be found on Instagram at @mdpizzini.