The Secret of Me
Slick are you as the water
beneath the bridge
Import, of course,
wheels glide over concrete,
speed climbing,
a floating road,
a diving bird
I slide closer,
thighs against leather,
seatbelt off,
tempting
fate,
physics,
god
At the bar,
before,
one drink,
then two,
then, too many to count
The burn of carpet,
after,
against my back,
sticky thoughts slow
my tongue
“Shh…” you say
The secret of me,
a crushed cigarette in an empty ashtray
A carcass sits beside me,
mildew creeps from the carpet
into my bones,
with everything sinking,
I grab hold,
in a reedy voice, courage speaks,
the sound, barely a whisper
“Shh…” you say
The secret of me,
black ink blotting pristine paper
In a building with cracked
bells and blank walls
I float in,
an invisible silk dress
unfit for any occasion
Later, buttercream sours
my tongue
Later, whiskey burns
your breath
“Shh…” you say
The secret of me,
a torn dress worn by a favorite doll
My end rolls in as a cloud of dust
from beneath the door,
a broken promise served
in a broken glass
“Shh…” you say,
The secret of me,
a shadow you never thought to consider
VA lives outside Seattle, WA, with her human and animal family. Her work has appeared in The Lake, 34th Parallel Magazine, Sad Girls Literary Magazine, Ignatian Literary Magazine, OJA & L Magazine, Front Porch Review, and Five on the Fifth, and Panoplyzine Magazine as the Editors’ Poem of Choice. She has work forthcoming in Crab Creek Review, Luminal Journal, Spry, and Figwort. You can find her on Instagram at @vawiswell and www.vawiswell.com.