By Tori Bryl

MY HEART IS A MOTEL THAT SHOULD BE CLOSED

Guests stay inside
only long enough to make a mark —
staining carpets
leaving rust —
before dropping their key at the front,
grabbing their baggage to run,
while I watch from a crack in the blinds.

TORI BRYL is from Palm Coast, Florida, and studies creative writing at the University of Central Florida. She has been previously published in Aeolus Literary Magazine and Foliate Oak Literary Magazine. She is currently writing her first novel, The Queen of Motel City.