something scrambled
out of me at least I thought
it was out of me
it could have been into me
very fast very sly
dirty breath’d assassin
spiders
ants earthworms
I witnessed
being dissected by my brothers
and crane flies
I tried
but never managed
to capture
whole such fey stupid wings
and legs left drifting on walls
mostly I was a witness
mostly
I’ve kept
out of the way with
my hood zipped
up to my chin
what is the surest thing
we know?
that as we grow older
we think less of
killing things and more
of coming back
who knows where
we acquire our knowledge
from our mothers aunts
perhaps
they pass it on
like a candle through
an ancient pockmarked door
something parenthetic
like a clasp
broken useless as a rotten wick
a spider climbing
the sublime coast
of your shoulders
walking through those rooms again
a web breaking
on the back of your hand
“Something” by Mona Arshi. Copyright © 2018 by Mona Arshi, used by permission of the Wylie Agency LLC.
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