Issue 11: Winter 2017
The Winter 2017 issue of Mangrove Journal is an online-only edition. Print books of select Spring issues are available on the University of Miami Coral Gables campus for a suggested donation of $5-$10 to the Creative Writing Program. Please contact mangrovejournal@gmail.com for more information.
Olives
Robert Anthony Buell was convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting
and murdering Krista Harrison in 1982. He died by lethal injection on
September 24, 2002. His final meal was a single, black unpitted olive.
I buy ten different kinds roll them in my mouth for days. Their flesh dissolves. I
savor each moment, letting the brine run over my gums. And I absorb the saline
solution – what was outside is now within.
Did the olive taste bitter to you? Did the pit resist your teeth? Did you struggle
for breath, or when the smooth muscle of your heart stopped quivering did the
universe distill to a final, salty tear?
Madeline Keller
Madeline Keller, c/o '13, is a triple major in Economics, Geography,
and Creative Writing with a minor in Art. She grew up in South Florida
and has been a Hurricane fan since grade school. She lives in Miami with
her husband and two dogs. She is fond of science fiction, poetry, cheese
and hot sauce.
