Sloan Asakura

She wears me whenever I wear her jeans

Snowfall in Parallel Universe by George Grie

cut silver from flesh each morning.

mirrors are made only for ghosts.

rust in my hair shimmers back from daylight mistakes,
.    turn into nightmares where she is still living,
.         and i am still not doing enough.

i can smell her on my clothes

old wood accents on a
.               stucco spackled house
every bill she ever paid, stacked
.               held together by rubber bands
red spanish roof tiles
.               turning pink under hot sun and smog
whispers of pomegranates
.               staining fingernails and knuckles
chlorine and salt
.               fill the air as if aflame from wax candles
crackling newspaper
.               half-filled crossword puzzles
bleeding ballpoint pens
.               on a split-wood dining table
detergent and downy
.               troubled only by two pairs of hands
peeling green wallpaper
.               lay quiet over the air vent
.                   a million photos in half as many frames
.                       my own face, a child, staring from most of them
.                           might i have been loved by a body before the burning
.                               might i have been loved by a mother without a daughter
.                                   might i have forgotten my body belonged in a picture frame

.                                                                                                                         in a koa wood box
.                                                                                                                         we could at least be together again
.                                                                                                                         and i would not cry when i see
.                                                                                                                         pennies in ring boxes.

sometimes i forget

ghost means to linger.

 

About the writer:
Sloan Asakura is a poet and memoirist originally from Los Angeles, now braving the Pacific Northwest. They have been previously published in Jeopardy Magazine, Rigorous, The Mantle, and Rogue Agent. Asakura is a founder and editor of MAWTH. In their free time, they can be found cooking comfort food, gardening, and contemplating persimmons.

Image: Snowfall in Parallel Universe by George Grie (1962- ). Digital image. no technical information specified. By 2014. By free license.