“Over my dead body,” you said
But for years now your body’s been dead
Your lips and your hips and your hands
They don’t work like they used to
“I’m sorry, I don’t love you no more”
“The kids know, the rings in the drawer”
A slap, then a laugh, then the wrath
Then the sarcastic ‘thank you’s
“Thank you for letting me know”
“Thank you for letting me go”
Belief, then relief, then a screech
Of tires, a door slamming shut
“Over my dead body” you said
You couldn’t stand to bury the dead
One hint of life, like a spark in the night
In your gut
Could spread like a wildfire
In the right conditions
Could flame like a live wire
If he would only listen
Burn though the derision
Cauterize the incision
But you
In your powder blue dress
Your hair all a mess
Your eyes the dark side
Of the moon
Your future ablaze
Your past all a maze
That you finally found your way through
Do we ever really find our way through?
“Over my dead body,” ma said
The clap of a slap and dad bled
You stood frozen in place,
Your face pressed against the door slit
Breathless, you ran to the shed
Your pretty world tearing to shreds
Heard something shatter
A vase or a platter, something delicate
The sun sat still over the plains
Fields of cotton and sugarcane
All flat and unfeeling,
Your mind was still reeling
For hours
Now you think of that kid you once were
How it all passes by in a blur
How things don’t get better
They simmer and fester
And sour
And rage like a wildfire
In red flag conditions
Flame like a live wire
Key in the ignition
One more bad decision
Those angry ghosts have risen
But you
With your razor sharp wit
Your comebacks and quips
Your lies like the cries of the loon
Always blowing off steam
Your past a bad dream
That you finally put behind you
But do we ever really make our way through?
Do our dreams ever really come true?
But dad warned you after the wreck
“Don’t look back, you’ll get a sore neck”
And sooner or later
He’ll get caught in the crater
You left
Jeremy Koloski 