"Burnt Out” by Anna Girgenti
There’s a light switch in my mouth
that you can flip with your tongue
You used to
do that
all the time
to make my body glow
fluorescent
against the heavens,
but
since you left
the switch is broken
in the night I
run my tongue over
the inside of my cheek
and blow a fuse
somewhere within my transparent
lungs
I cough up sparks on my pillow,
gasping at the
shards of a light bulb
caught in my
throat.
There’s a light switch in my mouth
that you can flip with your tongue
You used to
do that
all the time
to make my body glow
fluorescent
against the heavens,
but
since you left
the switch is broken
in the night I
run my tongue over
the inside of my cheek
and blow a fuse
somewhere within my transparent
lungs
I cough up sparks on my pillow,
gasping at the
shards of a light bulb
caught in my
throat.