tracing the airways in my lungs & plucking at them
like cello strings.
our fingertips tangled together,
hands like dusk to dawn.
i’m desperate for you to pull me closer,
but your voice is clawing in my throat
telling me to push you away.
we’re standing in the middle of the intersection
where you nearly crashed the car,
and i think i’ve seen this part of the movie before.
i’m facing traffic lights
and you’re grinning like the devil,
waiting for your eyes to turn green.
you throw back your head and laugh, and i can’t move -
i’m screaming and you’re still laughing.
your smile doesn’t break
when my body hits the pavement.
well darling,
i’m about to open my eyes and you’re starting to flicker.
you’re shutting the door behind you
and i’m frozen as the doorknob melts into honey,
trickling down my throat and soaking my bones
as it runs to the floor.
you’re collapsing and i can see it from here
watching you shatter, learning my lesson light years too late,
left alone wondering when i’ll see colors like this again.
*Question for the author: What do you choose to space out your writing the way you do?
*Answer: much of my work is written in broken-up stanzas with unconventional spacing. i first encountered this format while perusing poems on pinterest - a lot of the ones i came across were written by a poet, boykeats, on tumblr; another recognized poet that uses it is richard siken. after first being introduced to the spacing, i was intrigued and i began experimenting with it on my own. typically there isn’t much rhyme or reason to how/why the spaces exist, or where i use them - when it looks and feels right, i add it. i’ll add spaces for no reason besides aesthetic and for the sake of spacing - often, it’s truly experimental without much thought. this sort of format became my go-to when writing without much thought behind it. the more i used it, the more i learned how to work with it and make it into my own. however, i’ll usually use it when i want to create a sense of disconnect within the poem, and when the theme calls for it: such as a dream. during dreams, the events are scattered and irrational, and what occurs is often far from reality. thus, it only made sense to add the spacing and use it to my advantage for this piece. the abrupt spaces are meant to mimic the sudden scene changes within a dream, and create a detachment between the speaker and the words. even the smallest details, like these, add to the art of the piece and enhance it beyond imagination.
