An Autumn Tree

I don’t care much for this state 

but lay me down in the Chesapeake, 

during the fall, 

and maybe I’ll become an autumn tree. 

 

Arteries rich with sap, 

flowing to a point that 

                                  hangs off 

and bursts into red dots, 

turn brown, bad blood 

spills onto the grass and is taken by  

vampire-like soil. 

 

5pm: 

the sun burns me, 

illumination 

is resuscitation 

and I am almost, almost

human. 

 

Geri

MD

17 years old

More by Geri

  • What Will It Take?

    At parties I sit quiet and calculate my words

    I avoid the eyes of guys and stare at my phone. 

    After all that hiding, 

    dissatisfaction feels like heartburn, 

  • Inevitable

    crying over a simple email 

    the lasts build a lump in my throat 

    last time beaming onstage 

    signing yearbooks 

    wearing a stiff blue skirt 

  • Battle Cries

    One girl’s lanky frame against the dark turf field,

    lit up by fluorescent lights 

    She saunters toward the building 

    holding another girl’s hand