(cover photograph direction: David Obi)
This place raids my mind like a fever dream.
Storms whipping the buildings
like the anger of God.
When I smash the cricket
in my bathroom in a panic,
the ants
make quick work of my senseless sacrifice.
By morning, there’s a dry head
waiting on the stained tiles.
Fear manifests as spongy sores
on the roof of my mouth & I bristle
from the absence of touch.
I keep wondering what being unblemished feels like.
I want to learn how to say
I love God & not feel strings pulled
taut on my arms.
I try to forget the blade in the bottom of my purse
& whisper desperate prayers in the dark
as my roommate’s slender body
takes breaths too deep.
The wind brings the voices of children
playing in the red earth to me.
An anthem of freedom
to lift this watery mental prison.
