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Age 22: When Will You Get Over It

“re   cognize         u are
a facilitation                      a sorrow
between solids”
–   Jamie Hood, How to be a Good Girl
drowning in booze                                                           my brother is driving
& i am trickling into memory :                i am dew eyes
mucus in lungs                                                                            i am accusation pouring
                                 from the tip of my tongue
                     dipping
                                            or descending
                                                                                     into a childhood
                                                                                                                           of no brother
                                                                                     my brother is driving
& he knows nothing of my wilderness
                                                                          :
                                                                                    standing between two violents
later    drunk & bloated with tears         my mother sits my ass down in the shower
and i breathe in the scalding steam                               til i cant tell
whether the water is leaking
                                       from my body
                   or cleansing it
                                                                                                            & i count off my list of grievances
                                                                                    resentment boils hot
                                                like bruised blood pooling
                                  in my mouth
& my ears drown                           in the wake of my mother’s question :

 

About the Author

Annalee M. Elmore (she/her) is a writer and visual artist living in Memphis, TN. She is an MFA candidate at the University of Memphis and the Art Editor for The Pinch Literary Journal. She was awarded the 2021 Deborah L. Talbot Poetry Award and was nominated for the 2021 Best New Poets anthology. Her writing has been published in Blending Magazine and The Academy of American Poets.