my eyes are dry
my hips hurt
and my feet
burn
i’m supposed to be magic
i’m supposed to be that woman
who helps them see the sunsets pinked with smog
the shiny red heart shaped balloon in the warehouse lot
the glitter chips in the dirty sidewalk
but all i feel
is pain

– FLB

***

decomposing from the outside in
black beads emitted
spinning off
in every direction
all at once
a radioactive decay
the implosion is dark
sticky sweet
if i lick my skin
it tastes like iron
like instability
like alpha particles
like rot
i need a geiger counter
to measure how much
is already gone

– LB