Self-Immolation
Taylor Meehan
something
in the brain
is arsonic
as in
an arsonist
(funny because
it sounds like
the poison.)
your arsonist
wants you to
drink
the poison
smoke
the poison
steal
the poison
and
set fires with it
maybe
shatter the mirror
shatter the bones
of your fingers
five
(tear as in rip)
four
(tear as in cry)
three
(shred as in tear as in rip)
two
(shred as in thread as in hope)
one.
(no)
(no)
(no) (no)
(no) (no.)
i need those.
instead flicked
my lighter until
it left a blister
on my thumb
(blister bliss blister
bliss blister bliss)
poison bled
into
every word,
called it righteous
(anthropomorphism=
personification for psychos Psych majors)
and you
listened
to the arsonic brain
and you
became
an arsonist
and you
set fire
to yourself.
Taylor Rose Meehan sneezed on her little brother when he was in the NICU and still hasn't lived it down after 15 years. She writes songs, poetry, and the occasional essay, usually with her cat determinedly laying across her notebook. Tay sometimes goes by the pen name "anxious burrito" and is studying creative writing, publishing & editing, and music technology at Susquehanna.
Issue 14
2020