1 In the sink of the prison cell, where we get our drinking water and brush our teeth, we wash our clothes, running the soap bar over the heavy fabric, and ringing away what we can. We hang the clothes over our bunks, letting the stale air strain the last of the wet from the fabric. The orange stain does not wash from anything, not … Continue reading fragments
Do you know the story of hippo? How he has to open his mouth wide every few minutes to show Papa God that he hasn’t eaten any of the most favored fishies? Continue reading trauma: hippostarfish
I swallowed so many tears, my bones eroded and turned me into riverbed. Woman-made river, catching the sadness like it was meant to hold it. I swallowed so many tears, I built an ecosystem in my limbs. A saltwater stream, full of smooth river rocks and tiny legged things with flow of their own. My eyes became dammed, stopping the waters, holding them back. My eyes … Continue reading river-made woman
When I was a kid, I was ready for lava. I would leap from chair to table, rescuing my home from its ashen fate in the heated unstoppable ooze. It was a game, I suppose, but to me, it was preparation. When I was a kid, I was afraid of the substances that could kill you in an instant. The creatures that could snap away the … Continue reading the floor is
No, no, please go on. I’m listening. I’m trying to listen. I’m just going to get some more coffee. The door is open. I had to make my Christmas wreath out of toilet paper rolls, and I know it’s biased, but I think it looked just as good. You know those scenes in movies where the incarcerated person looks at their stuffed animal made of sheet … Continue reading we wore blue
