Daughter Mined With Mercury
by Shagufta Mulla
published in Blood Orange Review, 2021 (Contest Winner)
You painted me in shadowy stripes of your choosing, iron bars
that stung my fingers and tongue
to break up my beams of gold.
I remember playing
with loose beads of mercury. sleepwalking, falling out of bed.
talking in my sleep.
I got up in the dark and couldn’t find
the door. I traced back to my bed
and hid under the sheets. Did I break the thermometer? I don’t remember,
but I kind of hope I did.
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