Canton Writes 2023: 4:14 A.M.

The Canton Citizen, a sponsor of the annual Canton Writes contest, will once again publish the winning entries as space permits. The selection below, by Ceylin Uysal-Post, was the winning entry in the high school poetry category.

4:14 A.M.
By Ceylin Uysal-Post

the year i went back to high school my immune system significantly worsened

i noticed the change ever so slowly

like one notices that their friendship may be on its last life

the feeling creeped up on me then flooded in all at once with no remorse

my bones crackled, popped, and ached

my throat was impossibly heavy

the weight of expectations being impossible to swallow down

the bright blood filled face that was once my reflection in the mirror paled like a watery moon,

the only light it has mostly shielded by clouds of warm milk swirled in the sky

decomposing in my bed seemed to be my only solitary to this

letting my bones be held and my throat to ease so long as i just didnt swallow

letting long duvet covered fingers reach out into my skull and flip the stubborn switch of my brain off

letting the soil of the matress bury my aching body deep within it

“take me”

“breathe me in”

“trap me in your arms”

“make me forget”

my mouth pleaded

“let me stay forever”

but eventually it would toss me back up to the surface

my body as whole and new as it could be

the cracking and aching bones taped back together

my weight removed from my throat

blood pumping to my face once more

and somewhere

buried deep down within me

something it implanted

a hand print that was left

branded into me with blistering iron-

the sadistic desire to do it all over again

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=117211

Posted by Canton Citizen on Aug 3 2023. Filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.