VOICEMAIL POEMS

"Alternate" by Mariel Fechik

02.05.2018 - By VOICEMAIL POEMSPlay

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i.

In the other world, everything smells like cherries.

Every phone call is the news of someone's death,

and every cigarette is candy. In the other world,

you tell me you do not love me every day, and our

bed is made from cedar trees. The horses run rider-

less and frightened, chased by men with bottles for

weapons and collarbones made of ice. The plains

are a burnt orange in the other world, and everyone

reeks of a longing to understand.

ii.

In the other world, she never died, and everything

tastes like gunmetal. Everyone washes themselves

in coldness and sleeps in the bath. In the other world,

I tell you to keep the dogs at bay, and our bed is made

from palm leaves. The ocean laps at sand that is still

glass, riddled with shipwreck. The mountains tumble

down themselves in the other world, and everyone

speaks to each other in tongues.

iii.

In the other world, everything sounds like a heart-

beat. Everything is made of tinsel, multi-colored, and

glows in the dark. In the other world, we tell each

other every secret, and our bed is made from cattails.

Grief slithers in and out of our ears, only frightened

away by singing. The grasslands mumble mutely to

themselves in the other world, and everyone knows

only their own names.

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