On Another Death Laura Madeline Wiseman In my family the colon is the first to go. Not the heart in an irregular thump or the brain on increasingly fewer memories but the butt and all its embarrassing qualities. In polite company one mustn’t ever speak of bowel movements or dare to let one rip which is why the elderly are cast sidelong for a fixation on # 2s or worse, no # 2s. I want to think there is something special about bowels. The Egyptians thought life was there. The Greeks never betting on the head. Everything felt is still felt in the gut. Nerves sending one to the bathroom or not. No one talks about colon pleasure. I’m not talking about fucking, but surely there is a excruciating sweetness in the rectum. I’m talking about that much needed shit that cleans you out from the neck down. The one you need the plunger for. And if you were a mutt you wouldn’t even bother to back scratch. I think maybe my family hasn’t had enough of these shits so when another colon goes I lock up a commode and wait until all that gut pain comes out.

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LAURA MADELINE WISEMAN is an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona. Her works have appeared in 13th Moon, The Comstock Review, Paper Street, and other publications. She is the Literary Editor for IntheFray and a contributor to Empowerment4Women. Find out more at her website.