I̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶r̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶o̶e̶m̶
Tess Nealon Raskin
To know you really did some damage this time.
I have tucked myself under the bed.
Through the floorboards I can see my house
In the distance, the plastic piping, bright blinds
I never quite found familiar. I woke her from
the dark doorway and she must have thought
I was four again. The mark from where you
Soaked through my shirt. Your voice in my ear
and my back trembled open. Head plummeted
down the shoot towards my feet. The second
Time someone gave me a pill, your voice curl
ing like smoke. Now everything is quiet.
I had something
then I lost it.
Say no to the fast car of misery. Love you
somewhere in the overheads. Might never be
quite used to this.
Tess Nealon Raskin is an actress, writer, and director from Brooklyn. Her work has been featured in Spectra Poets, Don't Submit, and Voices and Visions Journal, among others. You can cast her in your movie.