Jennifer Patino

#NaPoWriMo: Day 25

a verbal knife wound
twisting
every fiber of my being
until I’m
scrubbed raw

…voice the scraping metal
sound of teeth
on a fork,…

the dandelion fields
hold splendor
& the May sky speaks

Odd half-smiles
and congratulations
are thrown about
like the farewell rice.

A cherita.

Never question
me beneath moonlight,
or in the throes of battle.

Nothing protected us then,
& we’re so much more
vulnerable now…

my sister is
scarred and I
can count
her rib bones
like pick-up stix

I used unraveled
tapes as ribbons
for the gift box
I put my heart in…

One spark for life
and pale ash skin
becomes brazen.