you abandoned my soul
and never left my body alone
*
you were too close
even in absentia
*
I had been a child
in a man’s diseased mind
*
you told me I was brave
I believed every word
*
hands bleak
body shutdown
mouth unclean
broken bones
melting into my skin
*
ghostbreath steams upwards from the earth
and I feel I’m right there with them all
the ones attached to your feet
*
calling me to the car
calling me into the mud
calling me into the night
traffic lights, parking lots
*
Daddyends, Daddy ends
winterbody, holes in his body
death on their fingertips
I’m walking into the depths of their souls
hands on my back
pressure on my spine
am I walking
at all
I
by myself?
*
words in my mouth
basement
wine
look away
mad eyes
depraved
I compose myself
*
peck peck pecking
*
forest
gas pedal
out you go
done
exhumed
whispers
back of my head
Daddy hears it all
necklace around my throat
*
numbers on girls’ foreheads
teachermouth
adjectives I’d never heard
it all made sense
body dominant,
body exploitative,
body familiar,
coffinmouth
lap / head
wanting some
looks like it
hunter’s mind
sleepwalking girl
*
you
devastated
her
soul
Croque-Melpomene 