by Risa Denenberg
I dream a beating
fists and belt look here, I say
pointing to my thighs
you missed a spot
running out of space
I want to live and I don’t want to live like this
I dream an inferno
coughing up blood air dense with smoke
perennial forest fires plum-colored bruises
on my palms it takes some time
to unfurl back to vertical
I want to live and I want to die
I dream “the big one”
I brush off dirt walk into a café
order a latte I never ask
the birds at the feeder
to share their nectar with me
for them it’s everlasting
I want to die and I don’t want to die
I dream a funeral pyre
the new passport expires in 2026
such is the confidence
my government has (in me)
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