---

 

This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Going Off-Grid” Down in the Dirt, v169 (the Mar. 2020 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology Foundations the Down in the Dirt Feb.-April 2020 issues collection book		get the 322 page Feb.-April 2020 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Order this writing in the book inside the box the 2020 poetry & art collection anthology		get the 262 page poetry & artwork & photography collection anthology as a 6" x 9" ISBN# paperback book:

Kill and Run.

Stephen Emmanuel Ogboh

before this last dose of poison
i helplessly stare at blood,
glossily congregating from
your stab wound on my back.
you were hungry for a pound
of flesh, but
took a dozen pounds. so that
most that is left of me is
the skin you promised to shred
for me, and
a mask you wore me.

i still think i feel you
crawling inside my veins;
—i wish a knife was there, for you to
trip over and bleed, too
lying, in this beautiful ruin,
i think i feel the gas too,
turned high. but what does pain do
to a body that has surrendered to it?

tear me to pieces, skin to bone
pour acid juice on me, kill and run

i hope you’ll call Deborah,
my family & friends
(that is, when you’ve ran far, away)
to tell them life is both a vapour, and
a solidified magma.
to tell them how much i loved them...
i hope also
that you mourn me and never come
back, or near to see my
resurrection, from my cremains
and the emergence of my thick skin.
my baptism.

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...