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Excommunication

Taylor Franson-Thiel

I gallowed my wrists

on the blade of his yoke.

His vow to me a preordained

severance that taught me

there are many ways to love

a millstone. Take its fingers

and press tender to neck.

My pulse, a swirling fish

hook-hungry. Hole in lip like

a holy text only he could read.

I hope his new wife finds

my poetry and loves it. I hope

he tells her I was a dog

he had to put down.

Taylor Franson-Thiel is the assistant poetry editor for phoebe and EIC of BRAWL. She is the author of the debut collection Bone Valley Hymnal (2025).

Find her at taylorfranson-thiel.com, @taylorfranson on Twitter/X, @taylorfthiel on Instagram, and @taylorftheil.bsky.social on Bluesky.