18






i love her so much 

but her paranoia gets 

stuck between my teeth 

like a nectarine plucked 

from a branch 

that should have rested 

just one more day

it tears up my life

piece by piece 

and sets it alight 

burning through my flesh 

smoking with passive aggression 

and resentment towards her 

small wax figurine that is 

carved as her and the love 

she shares with another 

and i say things 

do things 

because so much has been taken away 

and it’s too much by the end of the day

and i start slipping 

down deep where i was last january 

because this is the last burden i can’t bear 

the one that breaks me down. 

my day 

gone in a flash like any other 

robbed from me just like all the others since march. 

it’s a painful spiral staircase that brings a new let down with each step.

lila woodard

VT

YWP Alumni

More by lila woodard

  • city girl


    i feel like i don’t know you anymore. 

    i barely recognize your face at this point 

    all your city friends hate me 

    playful kisses in the comments 

    much more sinister then they seem
  • november pills


    it's a reprise of 
    my adolescent thoughts
    ones i had pushed away 
    ones the little capsules of 
    blue and orange had suppressed. 
    but those capsules sometimes 
    stuck in my throat, 
  • i’ll push back


    you make me feel trapped,
    struggling to get free. 
    you hold everything you've ever done for me,
    dangle it over my head 
    and taunt me with its existence. 
    you use your favors as bargaining chips