"Hi, I was just looking out my window and I couldn't help but to notice a Yorkshire Terrier in the street outside my house. I believe that the same dog was chased by the local kids back here. Is he your dog?"

"Yea, he my dog."

"Oh, great. I'm glad he's safe, then. He was just so small and skiddish, I didn't want him to get hurt. You know how the people speed down here."

"Why you talkin' like dat?"

"Like what?"

"Like that."

"It's English."

"I know what the hell it is. Why you speakin' it like that?"

"I'm a native speaker."

"Don't tell me what the fuck I already know. You sound white."

"I didn't realize that colors have sounds."

"I mean like white people, lil' gurl."

"So are you trying to say that my voice sounds akin to a white woman's usual dialect?"

"Stop gettin' smart with me, bitch."

"So now I'm an increasingly intelligent female dog? I feel as if I should see that as a compliment."

"..."

"Have a great day, ma'am."

I started lifting weights the other day,

because apparently it’s a good way

to deal with your problems.

But I realized rather quickly,

on like, the second or third repetition

of the first set- my arms were wobbly,

sweaty and shaking and bulbous veins,

that I had no idea what I was doing.

I’m in here, trying to work things out

just like everyone else, and yet

I’m embarrassed and hope no one noticed

my 75 pound bar that I wrestle with.

I see bigger, stronger women and men here,

their bars over their heads, screaming, panting, straining,

as they slam them down on the ground

feeling so accomplished, so relieved.

But I’m screaming too!

Screaming because everything burns

because I’m so weak and everyone is watching.

because I’m pushing so hard but the bar isn’t even moving!

I woke up when I heard someone speaking.

"It was her who stole my berries. I remember her gold watch," said the voice.

I got up from my bed and looked for the source of the voice. I laughed so hard when I discovered that the cactus on my bedside table glared at me. 

"Hey, good morning Miss C. And yes, I plead guilty. I stole your berries. By the way, are you not going to introduce me to your new friend?" I glanced on the flying centipede above me. 

"Nice to meet you, Human. I am here to arrest you. Again."

This will be my second time in jail. Last time, I was charged with murder when I burned the house of the King Ant. I stayed in jail for seventy minutes and I was allowed to go home after lunch when I ate the Lettuce Officer. 

"It is my pleasure, Officer. You know how I enjoy staying in jail."

After thirty-five seconds, we arrived in jail and I was excited to hug my friend, Roach, a very smelly cockroach. 

"Long time no see, my friend. I heard you stole some berries from Miss C?"

"Yes, Roach. It was worth it. Look at my earrings, aren't they pretty?" 

"You're right Human. But I prefer if the berries have worms in it."

"I agree, Roach. Come on, I have an idea! Let's escape this prison. Fly us to Worm Town, Roach."

When I finished eating the Burger Officer, Roach and I escaped the prison. We went to Worm Town Carnival and disguised ourselves by drinking mud. I was so happy to be avocado-colored when I ride the Parasite Ferris wheel. I soaked my dress with vinegar and rolled onto the sand as I devoured the sunlight. And flop! I accidentally killed Roach.

Two seconds later, a crawling eagle police officer shot me with his sword. It went through my stomach and killed me in an instant.

"Murderer and thief. We are very relieved that you are finally rested, Human. You were a pest to our community."

You noticed the times I yelled at you to eat your veggies.

You noticed the time I didn't allow you to go out with your friends.

And you noticed the time I was mad at you for not obeying me.

But little one..

You didn't notice me checking up on you at night to see if you're safe.

You didn't notice the pain in my eyes when I saw you ill.

And you most definitely didn't notice how it broke me to not have a conversation with you..

It's because I love you that I have to keep checking you. I just want you to be the best my little one.

inches 

inched up like a spider 

crawled up the skin 

trickled up the spine 

shivered the quiet 

awoken the blinds 

loud screams 

a flicker of a lamp 

a strangers footprint meshed into the carpet 

a heated demon breathed into the air 

became thick 

her hands reached to her neck and he whisper 

hollowed and empty 

the way he breathed 

into her ear 

as he curled his words 

around her name 

made it sound like silk and wine 

the walls got smaller 

the pushed closer 

she suffocated 

in the need 

to go 12 inches 

deep in her soul 

she begged for mercy

she shuttered 

at the crack 

of the door 

she wavered 

at the light 

walking 

in through 

the 

crack 

of 

the 

door 

she 

had 

locked 

she 

was 

only 

inches 

away 

from ..........

12 inches deep in desire 

In a dream,

I wandered

to a maw of stone where my

light danced the rocks and my

feet carried deep into the

lonely dark.

Tunnels twisted in the

granite and I walked them

as a pilgrim

lost until I found the

centre of the veins and arteries

in a chamber where water

dripped from wet walls and

cried in the gravel.

A creature lay

shrivelled in the dark, its

form twisted and

bestial and it stared

into the light with eyes dead

and as white as the achromic

bones that shone through its

translucent skin.

A heart

thumped

in a bloodless chest.

A brain

throbbed

in a nerveless head.

The creature shook in the

cold and let out

a pained moan.

I asked of it:

‘will it always ache?’

It did not

hear.

It did not

speak.

It turned its sightless eyes from the light

and raised itself on wasted limbs to limp

deeper into that

lonely dark.

there is a campfire

lit by my brother

and put out by his death

like a shoe pressed down

on an ant

nibbling on a brownie

at a picnic.

i am going to die. this is a truth.

Someday

the round tubes coming out of my body

will vanish

and my veins will speak

a language I have known

since I was a 12-year-old

standing in a waiting room

with a white lab coat

delivering blue news

to a family of glaciers,

slowly melting.

the floor tiles were gray

like the world when you spin really fast

the colors and shapes

mold together

get confused

give up

and become lungs

after smoke or drugs or disease decides to rot them

and oxygen no longer finds a home in them

like I no longer found a home in my body

when my brother snorted up my powdered love

and pieces of my innocence beat away

like the wings of geese flying south for a winter

so snowy and crisp that my warmth

got buried alive

and my emotions grew so quiet

that now I must scamper through

the shallow waters of my mind

with a headlamp

and burnt toast knees

to see if feelings are still there

somewhere

anywhere

are there flowers?

i want a stick instead.

let me poke through my sweater and into my skin,

tuck tightly into a box with beautiful ribbons

and tease you.

open it up again,

I dare you.

fold a flood, neatly,

stuff it into a drawer,

and see how long it takes until you’re

swimming

                     floating

      drowning

                                 dying.

(just like me)