Claire Scott
​Image by Cottonbro Studios                                                                            
Claire Scott is a poetry candidate in the University of Arkansas's MFA in Creative Writing & Translation program. She has poetry forthcoming from the Laurel Review, is the Poetry Editor of the Arkansas International, and serves on the Editorial Board of Nimrod International Journal.
Strip Mall Christian Therapist


I’m up before dawn, running until I’m red-faced 
                           & dizzy. Afternoons, 
I pray over Psalms on the back porch until heat 
                                                                    lulls me asleep.

I’m so hungry this summer: fourteen  
                           & counting calories 
on my phone. Shame-faced in the cross-filled 
                                                                     therapist’s office. 

I’m there because sometimes I stop breathing  
                           & my mom found 
too many strands of long, blonde hair in my 
                                                                     bathroom trash. 

My brother is in Kansas, sent away for his anger. 
                           Still, his presence 
swells in the upstairs hallway like the July air after 
                                                                       yesterday’s storm.

The therapist says anxiety is the absence of trust in 
                                                                      God.
My hands will stop shaking if I say more prayers.

Regarding hurting myself, she tells me to repeat: 
my body is a temple & I owe more honor to my Creator.

Once home, I sit on my bathroom counter 
& pluck my eyebrows until nothing is left.



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