promise not to tell
debut poetry collection coming soon
bad dreams
i shake dreams off me
like a wet dog. i shake off
a boy, paler than sand,
hair dark, tousled. he stares
at me, saucer eyes blank, deep space
like, and shoves a tack so far
into my thumb it hits yesterday. he watches —
preparing like an empty city
street before it becomes a breathing thing,
while I scream at the long, thin,
metal protruding from my skin. it's hard
to tell what makes a dream
a nightmare. it's hard to know what haunts.
