Late Melt

I had not vomited in so long

Someone put the hex on my true-to-selfness

Some sorcerer kept me far from my guts

The guts I feared would choke me

And make me ashamed of having no wings

And drown my own heart

I know how to survive a feeling

But I forgot that I knew it

A manic forgetter froze my meats

I kept asking for help when I didn't need it

My demons stared out from the ice

When they finally thawed they'd been dead all along

And now I am the walking thawed

You survive yourself if you wait long enough

And vomit your guts down your defrosted breast

And bathe in your mess and say baby it's fine

Copyright Credit: Melissa Broder, "Late Melt." Copyright © 2017 by Melissa Broder. Used by permission of the author for PoetryNow, a partnership between the Poetry Foundation and the WFMT Radio Network.

Source: PoetryNow (2017)