by Mikayla Mislak
From the December 2015 Issue

I.
The boy with shadows on
his cheeks slides into the
mahogany room. Morose
in every sense of the word. He
eagerly slides knives into his wrists, guns
to his temple, nooses around his neck, and
flames to his flesh. Never to die but never
to be heard. He is the lonely one, stalking
hearses and black veils. Gaunt, pale, and
voiceless.

II.
The woman with light swirling
through her braids and sun warming
her wrinkles. She is no stranger to
the numbers tattooed on her arm, but she
lives and laughs and fights. Saving trees and
stealing cars, giving him a reason to
love
for the first time. She crackles with spirit and
remembers the nonpermanent body.

III.
The boy stands above the sea
a week older and years wiser.
His shadowy veil sits
behind him. His face, body, and
soul now made lighter as he
lingers not
at his last brush with
destruction. He plucks strings to
reminiscence on her song.

Inspired by the 1971 film, “Harold and Maude”