Tiny Ponies Arrive in the Mail
Mila Rae Mancuso
I take the ponies out of the bubble-
wrap and wait for them to come
to life.
I watch over them like a nurse
as their tiny pink bodies unruffle
from their packaging
in the warmth of my hand.
All six of them, shrunken small
like raisins, fit perfectly
here — their painted purple
hooves, like commas,
punctuate the extension
of the leg as one pony stretches
awake.
The bubble wrap pops, I can feel
a little heart beating; the pony’s
breath sifts through my fingers,
opening the eye: a bright ruby
gleaming for me.
Mila Rae Mancuso (b. 2001) is a Brooklyn-based poet, screenwriter, and artist working within experimental analog film. She is haunted by Antonin Artaud's theatrical scenarios and a white rabbit with a pocket watch. She received her BA in Poetry and Experimental Filmmaking from Emerson College. Her work explores the surreal, baby-powder feminism, and the macabre. Her work has been featured in Hobart Pulp, Revolutions Per Minute Film Fest, Old Pal Magazine, Inferno, Wingless Dreamer, and Millennial Pulp. She is currently a Poetry Reader for Passengers Press.