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Abbie Doll

m e
m o
r y’s

Girl with Fruit Bowl by Thomas Nordwest

m e
m o
r y’s
—————————
this   defunct   light-
-house       with       a
burnt-out           bulb,
shrouded     by     fog

——————————————

an      indistinct      column      on
the       verge       of       vanishing,
fading    into    the     muted    grey
horizon,   cloud  cover   infestation
&  we’re   all  a  bit   blurry,  now—
murky   polaroids  with  worn   edges
crimped&creased, flecks of forgotten
pasts   peeling  like   paint,   assaulted
by    the    sea,    our    wear    &    tear
worsening,        waves         weathering
&   the    more    we    aim    to    zoom,
the     more     focus     we     lose,    the
grittier       we       become        (clearly)
clarity’s        a       vague        memory—
this     place   void   of   visitors,    where
only      phantoms     dare     to      appear,
here         where      the      dead        tread
—foam       spittle       ghosts       crashing,

pummeling        this        craggy        base

in     the     bruised     light     of    eventide
——————————————————

&     me,    well,     i’m    a    dim    shadow
of        the       beacon       i       once      was,
waiting         for         that        last        wave
to     shore     ~&~     wash      it    all     away

 

About the writer:
Abbie Doll is a writer residing in Columbus, Ohio, with an MFA from Lindenwood University and is a fiction editor at Identity Theory. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in Door Is a Jar Magazine, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, and Ellipsis Zine, among others.

Image: Girl with Fruit Bowl by by Thomas Nordwest (contemporary). Digital image. No technical information specified. 2023. By free license.

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