Blueprint for a Home Without Tampons | Mary Maroste

 Mary Maroste is a senior at Western Michigan University majoring in Creative Writing and Communication Studies. Some of her favorite activities are reading about animals and riding bikes. Her work has been featured in Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Jabberwock Review, Winter Tangerine, 3288 Review, Great Lakes Review, and others. Her first chapbook Blueprint for a Home Without Tampons was published by dancing girl press. She is from the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan but currently resides and studies in Kalamazoo.     Landscape with a Bridge that Doesn’t Reach the Other SideMy voice was clearerbefore I washed my hands after sex& lost sleep over the color of my thong.Thinking of my brotherI drew mouths on all of my scars & stared at them for hours –tried to cook a normal meal, merlot colored circles under my eyes.Instead, I invented a machine to measure worthbased on caterpillars saved from the road,pubic hair & clean sheets.My voice was gentler before I decorated my home with st