Editor’s Note: Introspective Ramblings is Amherst Wire’s poetry column, dedicated to showcasing student’s creative work through a mixture of audio and visual components.

Treatment by Fire

I know you hoped that
Your breath on the back of my neck
Would crystallize
Not evaporate
But cling to me in a cancerous growth
A tumor suffocating me to silence
You didn’t see that
Beneath the skin you tried to claim
I’m radioactive
My own cure in my own fury
On my skin
My skin
My skin my skin
A mantra of disputed ownership
If we went to court who would settle
Who would keep the cancer
At least
Even if it cripples me
I know it’s mine the turmoil
And when I rebuild on a foundation of all that hurt
There’s not a shred of you in it
Or your golden hour sweet nothings
Or your silence
Or your breath
On my skin
My skin
My skin

Email Celina at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @CRivernider