Death comes for Darling, née Delphinium 

Dupree (the legal appellation just 

authorities see.)  Even the handsome 

professor reads it a little bit brusque, 

off a computerized list that seminal   

lecture, just after dusk, I ever exist 

inside your bubble of correctable 

collegiate red-pen-bled-out-manuscripts. 

Delle, I tender to you, cruel pretender,

transfixed by a sunny plaid skirt before 

I kneel on your office floor, surrender 

to hurt, where you christen me Darling or 

drag me through dirt, a clover covered hill— 

become a darling you should not have killed. 

Kristin Garth is a Pushcart, Rhysling nominated sonneteer and a Best of the Net 2020 finalist.  Her sonnets have stalked journals like Glass, Yes, Five:2:One, Luna Luna and more. She is the author of 20 books of poetry including Candy Cigarette Womanchild Noir (Hedgehog Poetry Press), Flutter Southern Gothic Fever Dream (TwistiT Press), and Girlarium (Fahmidan Journal).  She is the founder of Pink Plastic House a tiny journal and co-founder of Performance Anxiety, an online poetry reading series. Follow her on Twitter:  (@lolaandjolie) and her website kristingarth.com