This selection, chosen by guest editor Layla Lenhardt, is from Until the End of Time by Mia Herman (Alien Buddha Press 2023).
How to Explain the Breakup to Your Very Traditional Mother
Do you know what it’s like,
Mama, to pour yourself
into those pantyhose
and feel as though the seams
are about to explode, like you are
too big to be caged,
like your flesh cannot be contained?
Do you know what it’s like
when the tears first appear—
slow and subtle, running up
your leg like varicose veins—
and it’s only a matter of time
before the support
you thought you needed
no longer serves a purpose?
That’s what loving him was like,
Mama. Tell me you know
what that’s like.
Mia Herman is a Jewish writer and editor living in New York. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hofstra University and her work has appeared in dozens of publications, including Barren Magazine, Bellevue Literary Review, F(r)iction, Stanchion, Third Coast, and Variant Lit, among others. UNTIL THE END OF TIME (Alien Buddha Press, 2023) is Mia’s debut poetry chapbook. 
Layla Lenhardt is the author of the full-length poetry collection Mother Tongue (Main Street Rag 2023). She is an alumna of the Firefly Farms Residency and a member of the Sundress Reader Board. She is currently working on her second full length poetry collection Little Spoon, and she is an MFA candidate at IU. 
