like the raw sleepless nights that used to be me / or that I am / without too many hours of dreaming / I am no one / like the summer days / that overexpose / until they powder your lungs / like the first tin man / or one of the first / the only notable fact / anyway fameless / I know how to remember / how to cleave and retell / like the reflective / hip knife / jade handle / chipped from the classless / but I hear that / this cleaving / is a skill you can no longer / market like a coy lithe body / or I’m sorry / they told me that when you lose the lisp / you lose / a little more / punch through the drywall / find that hollow cavern / where you’re meant / to put / the rest of you.
Cherry Cheesman is a writer from the Carolinas. She loves exploring setting, character, and the world of the imagined in her work. She has been published elsewhere in The Interlochen Review and Élan Literary Magazine. This fall, she will attend Sarah Lawrence College, where she plans to further her craft as a writer. In her free time, she loves to crochet and go walking.