the screen door is open.
mrs grey has walked up the hill.
she is standing very tall.
my mother is speaking to her.
they are talking about me.
attention is the issue.
not enough from me in class.
her face is stern and cold.
i have done something terrible.
my mother is speaking to her.
she is talking about my siblings.
attention is the issue.
not enough from her at home.
her back is very straight.
i have done something terrible.
my mother is looking at me.
she is asking me to come to her.
mrs grey is looking at my mother.
i am looking up at mrs grey.
i am looking up at my mother.
mrs grey is solid as steel.
her eyes are dark warm brown.
i cannot read her expression.
my mother says mrs grey is worried.
this is a problem for us.
i have somehow tricked mrs grey.
my mother is suffering for it.
i have done something terrible.
my mother asks if i am okay.
yes.
she asks if i'm having a hard time.
i don't know.
if the babies are making me lonely.
no.
she asks again.
yes.
mrs grey is looking at my mother.
her face is a cold sharp knife.
have i done something terrible?
the screen door is still open.
behind mrs grey, the sun shines.
my mother's shadow protects me.
mrs grey and my mother are talking.
neither woman looks at me.
i am no longer needed.
i disappear into the house.
the screen door closes loudly.
the wooden door closes loudly.
i have done something terrible.
mrs grey has walked down the hill.
at least she tried.
Mar 23
Mar 23, 2026 at 1:39 AM UTC
found: soft heart on linoleum
blue side up, yellow side against floor
clean felt stitched roughly with gold.
past entry gate to supermarket
between the bread and fruit and flowers
where we used to keep the baskets.
stored in top left pocket of polo
where it remained for three days
on body, in water, flung, hung, shaken, folded, neatly tucked away.
found: soft heart over chest
unnoticed until pressed against polyester,
spotted in mirror as disruption.
removed, observed, and placed
on tray of trinkets
where i keep the only necklace i wear.
Mar 17
Mar 17, 2026 at 11:25 AM UTC
and on the wings of a dead bird he saw it first
the way the earth had laid its claim
and when he held the bones and flesh that still were left
he learned that silence knew his name
o, the light he had found!
and in the orchard's falling leaves he did receive
a message ringing loud and clear
the fruit had rotted all the trees from underneath
and there was nothing left to fear
o, he would become
something better than alive!
(you will be buried by the weight of your desire.
you will be reborn in the wake of holy fire.
you will be here long after humans' final hour.
your bones will blossom flesh and blood, infernal flower.)
and in the soil's warm embrace his roots were laced
a crawling maze of poison veins
and he would bring about a swift apocalypse
and all the world would know his name
Mar 15
Mar 15, 2026 at 10:31 PM UTC