Original poem written by Danni

violet sky swallowed
itself violently. wind
bellowed unrecognizable
voice. her home shivered
on foundation. wooden
bones unsettled
by something older than weather.
she stood with them.
husband. daughter. son.
watched through back window
shed lifted from ground
like child’s chin tilted
upward. like gravity
forgotten. everything

shifted

forward

she said we need to go.
she said it’s going to hit.
she said i feel us sinking.

he said go.
he said take him.
he said i’ll get her.

only

one

child in her arms
body knew the path away
serrated gravel under soft
foot. she turned
back to doublewide
nod. watched home
lean into earth. bow before
breaking. collapsed like
lungs beneath water.
her scream
not from mouth but
core
of earth

shattering

sanity

his voice i’m here.
his voice it’s okay.
his voice i’ll get you.

she saw nothing.
she screamed nothing.
she did nothing.

unblinking

unbreathing

opened her mouth
air rejected her voice
moth against hurricane
when they emerged
from destruction
she did not run to them
but lie crumpled over
serrated gravel guilt
a sharper ruin
than falling wood
or broken glass
on tip of tongue

buried

now

fingerprint smudged fridge
her drawings sealed in steel
coffin. crayon ponies and stick
figures smile in ink under
disrepair. her body still held her son
while soul stayed in wreckage
with the girl she didn’t
save. home of could haves
walls swallowed whole. her arms
remain one short of saving
everything. she walks through
memory. nothing in mouth but

her

name