Going to the Movies by Jonny Ransbottom

you always hold your thumb, 

hide that scar like a child does 

a bad habit. 

when I can finally trace it, 

the ridge of your nail 

like jagged rock, 

kiss it in your sleep, hold it 

to my chest, your childhood 

runs like film. 

The moonlight a projector, we’re 

wrapped in cold sheets.

a dusty water glass on the bedside 

table for concessions. 

i will watch your memories 

like a lovesick girl 

in her mothers lipstick. i will 

imagine your childhood in our 

lamp lit bedroom, a matinee 

or a double feature. i will 

watch your shadow on the ceiling 

at night, 

i will buy a ticket to your dreams 

when you take 

my palm and set it along 

the casings of your chest 

where I can feel the pounding.

Jonny Shae Ransbottom is the author of several essays and poems; some of her work has been included in Minerva Rising’s The Keeping Room, Club Plum, and forthcoming in Anti-Heroin Chic. She enjoys writing all genres, and finds herself drawn to the raw and real stories of love and hardship, particularly those that speak to the feminine experience. As an educator, she believes in the passion of writing as a tool for connection and healing. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Lindenwood University in 2023 and continues to write diverse works of all genres while also working as a co-host on Just the Scraps, a literary and writing podcast and forthcoming literary magazine.