AlYx Chandler

Fingers that Refuse to Core

“Plant peppers when you’re mad or they won’t grow hot” —Journal of American Folklore, also my grandmother 

 

I don’t mean this ugly 

but these here peppers aren’t hot enough to run a nose  

got no zing 

no mad in ‘em 

aren’t fiery enough to be in no one’s mouth 

on God’s green earth— 

you’re safe as can be, hun

 

eating that jalapeno

never were a pepperhead, were you 

still gotta be real careful just cause your mouth 

ain’t actually on fire don’t mean your mind 

won’t burn your body good 

and mean and crisp 

ignite it, ya know?

 

don’t you forget your taste buds

are where you come from 

a good pepper like a mad woman 

painful as can be

a homemade dish meant to 

bring you to tears

let you know what you did 

 

careful when you cut out  

what’s hot in a person  

you hear me? it’s not always gone

the innards got a way of stayin’

and listen, when you find out what strikes flames

in a person you best move fast

or move aside

hun, stop your crying

 

it can’t be that hot I been at peace for years.  

 
 

Alyx Chandler (she/her) is a writer from the South who received her MFA in poetry at the University of Montana, where she was a Richard Hugo Fellow and taught composition and poetry. Her poetry can be found in the Southern Poetry Anthology, Cordella Magazine, Greensboro Review, SWWIM, and elsewhere. Alyx can be found on Instagram @alyxabc, Facebook @Alyx Chandler, and Twitter @AlyxChandler. Her website: alyxchandler.com.