< Issue 10 >
The Morning After
by Holly Day
I pretend I’m blind so they won’t bother me
but I have been alive just long enough
to read men even
with my eyes closed, hands out, fingers
reading the Braille of sweat on skin.
if Joey wants to talk to me about how
I killed his brother, that’s just fine. Joey
can come in and sit
beside me, here, on the prison
cot, and I’ll tell him the story
of how the world looks when everything you see
is tinted red, how even flowers look
suspicious when you’ve
just killed a man. I pretend I’m
deaf so they won’t talk to me, but I
have been alive just long enough to know when
someone is in my room, can feel footsteps
through the soles of my
feet, know exactly when to strike
at invisible things. if Joey
wants to hear why I killed his brother, that’s fine.
Joey can come in and lie beside me,
here, beneath the stiff
white sheets of the prison cot, and
I’ll tell him about how the world
sounds when your ears are full of blood, and how
even songbirds sound suspicious
when you’ve just killed a man.
The Morning After
by Holly Day
I pretend I’m blind so they won’t bother me
but I have been alive just long enough
to read men even
with my eyes closed, hands out, fingers
reading the Braille of sweat on skin.
if Joey wants to talk to me about how
I killed his brother, that’s just fine. Joey
can come in and sit
beside me, here, on the prison
cot, and I’ll tell him the story
of how the world looks when everything you see
is tinted red, how even flowers look
suspicious when you’ve
just killed a man. I pretend I’m
deaf so they won’t talk to me, but I
have been alive just long enough to know when
someone is in my room, can feel footsteps
through the soles of my
feet, know exactly when to strike
at invisible things. if Joey
wants to hear why I killed his brother, that’s fine.
Joey can come in and lie beside me,
here, beneath the stiff
white sheets of the prison cot, and
I’ll tell him about how the world
sounds when your ears are full of blood, and how
even songbirds sound suspicious
when you’ve just killed a man.
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