Emily Winters                                                                                                                     

“back space” 

drug out life less

but this was no accidental death

death by misadventure

this was supposed to be an adventure

i happened

to be walking one day

down rain-slicked streets that were crying

in their murky chalk water

squiggle rainbow dreams

and all the colors blurred

and this little kid wept

and it was then i decided that hey

i don’t wanna live

so i happened

i . happened .

i was born and i got dead

it happened and i’m still left here trying

trying to comprehend

clutching my head because maybe the tighter

i squeeze the less of a chance

of my brains snaking out of my ears

and me winding up with empty eyes

staring wide at the moldy ceiling the expiring sky

that i can see choking on the pollution

as the smog punctures clouds

and ropes it round the necks of birds

and they coughed

up blodd

but i thought i had had enough

and it was only until i could breathe again

by some misadventure

that i know now could never be death

i knew then that i never wanted to be gone

deleted

the slice of your mind that struggles to pick up

the pieces and remember

(remember me)

what used to belong in that empty space

before you back

spaced

out

gone

over and –