My skin shivers in the rushing water.

Crystal waters dyed black from the blood

that drips. I am ascended by the air in my lungs.

Picked up at the surface by paper boats that lead

me down the river. As we float closer to the villa,

I hear the laughter of those stronger than me.

 

They wine and dine their cares away. Their affluence

precedes their aging smiles. I am delivered to the sand,

no signature needed. It too, shivers. The light

from the downtown center pollutes my eyes. Its bright

projection fills the sky and scares off the stars. I dig

my palms in to the sand, I stumble to my feet.

 

I take inventory of a body I once knew as mine.

I wring out my white t-shirt, polka dotted red with pain.

My ears lead as I walk, my toes study each cracked brick

in the alleyway. Their laughter bursts out once more.

I stand in the sleek emptiness of shadows. I blink and pinch,

hoping this nightmare is one that I dream and not one I live.

 

I drowned myself in the rivers of your legacy. I fell

victim to your origin story and sought to see it through.

I supported your victory, hiding every tear-washed

wound. Those distant memories led me to this.

To this body, water-logged, pooling into the stones

beneath. Searching for something, for anything but this.