afterimage
i am an afterimage my contour blurs lines between us
& the shore the flood that comes furious
& which we cannot do not want
to stop
i am an afterimage you look at me so intently the curves
of my body burn themselves in the cones & rods
of your eyes & your brain twists this information
into an image of me we both know to be far
from accurate
i am an afterimage the shape you see in your mind’s eye is not
as strong | solid as you may perceive –
cracks not only in the foundation
but the walls
the ceiling—
too blurred to make out but you see
they are a spider web of instability
i am an afterimage my shape distorted under water
where i partly keep myself between the waves in the belly
of the storm swaying in the loudest silence
i am an afterimage friction ridges – mine & yours overlap
on the landscape of my body across curves & dips
sunken under waves marked with salt & grit
they do not mourn your absence
i am an afterimage you close your eyes & tilt
your head expecting a crisp outline sharp | smart edges
but find soft blunt corners porous structures ready
to crumble under the pressure of a fallen feather
D. Parker has an MA in Creative Writing. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Eunoia Review, Atrium, The Belfast Review, Cutbow Quarterly, Strix and Inkfish. Her pamphlet, ‘Rush’ was published by Bullshit Lit Mag + Press. She is the editor of Needle Poetry.
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