by Preeti Vangani
Strip the cloak of clichés
you've buried yourself under,
there are better graves to ghost.
Look, the gray whales are dying,
socialism has been aborted
in an American womb,
and your father isn't your father
like he used to be—less stone, more salt.
If you must gin, give it lime
& spine, don't permit grief
to whitewash you
in the suburban gloom
I worked 24/7 to repaint.
Zipline on the rift of
my unspent anger. Our unused
skillet shines for you, kiss
its engraved initials, PV.
Could be me, could be you.
Record the seasons I couldn't:
isolation, Internet and TikTok.
I hear they have a dimension now
which can bring any wild animal
into your room through a screen.
Make me a tiger. Grow taller
than monsoon grass. I'll walk
through you and nobody will know.
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