Rebecca Black

Mephista as Material Witness

At approximately 2 a.m.

after Miss B. exited the realm

of antiquity, passing through

the caves of Academe, 

she abandoned this draft,

termed Exhibit B:


From the burned Anatolian city,

you brought back a coral rug

where mistakes were made by hand,

the pattern’s lament.

Then a premonition—archaic raiment—

Mother, you’ve brought a burning gown                      

for me to wear.


Did Miss B. undertake

familial conspiracies,

women put to rest

in wedding dresses,

women dressed

to kill? Mephista—

did Miss B. put on knowledge—

strike that—did she put on

a black sheath for the post-

lyric apocalypse? Did she throw

the mirror at herself?