ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED YOUR JOURNAL - Ranina Simon

read back

through the two years you have seared

into the book it took one year

to find pleasure

in the harsh jut

down of your capital A

splintering

the words below

impressive from afar this

great big tangle

the exposed nerves

you recorded

with the smallest script

reach past

all your softness

(so as not to remember

it remains you)

to grip

the hard curved bone

of your hip protruding

violently

avoid his eyes to find

that same deplorable bend

of his cheek

illuminated by

the malfunctioning tv you never thought

you wouldn’t be able to handle it