I am my grandmother’s clenched jaw
I am my mother’s pinch in my back
I am my father’s broken mind
I am my grandfather’s confidante
I had bruises before I had a body
I had scars before someone touched me
salt on butter skin melting blade hairs bitterness in my mouth
basement yellow liquid clothes bathroom green tiles mute
couch legs spread underwear aside legs white veins tight
whispers male shadows doorknob playing around blanket frozen
mirror grimaces hold on squeeze shoulders flesh composurechild
she is made out of meat and secrets
he is an unbuckled composition
she is a woman with a dead child inside of her
she buried it there
within her
that’s where he killed her
her body a crime scene that he revisits
he escapes into her
and sheds all his demons
abandons her
and her gums smell of his recoiling remains
kisses her goodbye
I have my father’s profile
I have my mother’s silhouette
I have my grandmother’s habits
I have my grandfather’s unrest
Croque-Melpomene 