Mad

I caught the deep inky blue of it

in bottles

labeled 'pleasing'

and set them on a shelf

next to bowls full of tears

and baskets full of unwanted memories.

It was cold

aching like limbs in the winter

sip it,

let the ice unfurl,

bitter on your tongue,

grief catching

in your throat

before settling into the pit

of your stomach,

like a swallowed apple seed.

one day the winds came

knocking all of the bottles down

and all around in the broken air,

ruptured by the fragmented glass,

screams - starved and rising

screams shattering bone

screams - ringing

wild and ragged

at last.

Participant's Poems