Winter & a full 72 hours without seeing another human being
Winter
After the rainy season
Where it poured acid for seven years
I was a cavern
I was a deep, deep earth
I was pouring emeralds from my belly button
The mountains have knees
The acid washed their armor away
I found the joints
I watched as the mountains bent for the first time
Since the dinosaurs ate each other to survive
It poured wasps too
Now I have a crown made of stingers
And I drink venom for breakfast.
It has poured bullets too
Now I am a cannon.
A full 72 hours without seeing another human being
These rain clouds look like fingertips
Like God reaching down to touch our sins
Or us reaching up to touch His
What a split sky, what a cold hope
A rhapsody of hyperbole
And when the hands pull back
Everything smells like oranges
When you haven’t seen another face
In several days
You name your mirror
You shatter it to make more mirrors
You name them all too
Taylor Franson Thiel is a graduate student at Utah State University pursuing her Master’s in Creative Writing. Her writing frequently centers on her experience as a Division One basketball player, her family, the female body, abusive relationships and mental health struggles.