A page excerpt from the book. The poem, "schrödinger’s cat", is surrounded by an illustration of a cat in a carboard box. Stars and a paper airplane fly by the cat, who peeks out at it. The poem reads,
schrödinger’s cat-
opened / unopened
peeking out to look at you,
starry eyes gently ask
“what’s in yours?”
a cardboard box-
where a ribcage should be
she paws softly at your chest,
waiting for an observation
schrödinger’s heart.
A page spread exerpt from the book. The poem, "empty year / it has been a year", reads,
it has been a year
since everything got worse
& i am, as i was,
not sure why it had to be.
i wonder when i’ll be okay again
instead of whatever this is.
jumping at the shadows
of the people i love—
hiding from their sun,
since i’ve fancied myself the moon.
sucks to find the phone line
severed, not sure who had
the scissors. i’ll blame you
because tragedy plus time
has made me a dick
it has been a year
that i am most tired of;
empty, loud, cold. a year of
chewed lips and panicked texts
and heavier weeknights.
it has been more than that
it has been a fucking year
inside words i do not occupy—
the wrong medicine given for
a careless diagnosis, but
(heartily) accepted. i know,
& i will never again,
be sunset to another’s sunrise.
i think i did something,
and it made you mad
or it hurt or it ground
against your teeth at night—
& i am, and i’ll remain,
not sure what the point was
in words without meaning.
i can feel it coming
waves, underneath the surface
unsettled by a satellite,
unmedicated and erratic
A page spread excerpt from the book. The continuation of "empty year / it has been a year." A small illustration of a figure sitting on a shattered house, surrounded by ghosts, and illustrative text that says "i deserve a good year." The rest of the poem reads,
so i keep running inland
ahead of it, tearing at my heels
a phantom tsunami
only i can see — out there,
at the coast where i left you
all, moving on, gently stepping
around my chalk outline
because, as you know,
might as well be dead, right?
it makes sense to my panic
drenched to the bone, & deeper
this corrosive has eaten through
each stilt i thought sturdy
so while it rips me up from
the foundation, i wonder
when will i be okay again?
and as the ocean surges back
my tail between my legs
i think- i don’t remember
what that is anymore, do i?
i’m not who i thought i was
on level ground
there’s something in the sound
of empty spaces still ringing
a voice unsure,
will i ever be okay again?
you said a lot of things,
and nothing at all,
every empty word echoing
in this empty year.
it has been a long year
that could of been better,
& gratefully, slowly, i am learning
how it would have looked
from kinder hands.
Here are some more excerpts from the book, and the link for the digital edition: mancameron.itch.io/ghost-walks