wake up

every now and then, i am lying in bed 

and want to wake up so badly i could 

scream for it. surely this is not all there is. 

surely this is only a dream, a bad dream, 

and the world is kinder beyond it. 

every now and then, i pretend 

i am twelve years old again 

and waking up in my father's arms 

as he carries me from the car. look; 

the kitchen smells like sunlight and 

bread. look; my mother is kissing me 

on the head, both of us pretending 

i am still asleep. look; 

i can hear my brother laughing, 

laughing, 

laughing, 

all the way from the next room. 

yejunee

FL

17 years old

More by yejunee

  • ouroborous

    the snake is hungry 

    so the snake will eat 

    and eat it does, chewing, gnawing, 

    and will you ever notice, little thing, 

    that it is your own tail 

    you are swallowing? 

     

  • abalone

    from salt and foam and scales 

    steal the hearts of stone 

    nacreous shells, dying husks, 

    the honey-sweet flesh that once 

    clung to its bones 

    to die of thirst. 

  • eschatology

    meet me at the end of the world 

    the space between firestorms and tsunamis 

    across the acid oceans 

    and here, where the rot 

    has begun to reclaim the cities at last.