“t is her favorite gift so far, and rests heavy in Martha's palm, its weight as cool and as lush as a faraway land.”

“She has no singular answer as to why she declined this call, but maybe the simplest answer would be that she thinks, in that time and place, that it’s best to just let it go to voicemail.”

“how does it feel to breathe so deep. / this was your first protest. how does it feel / to know you too walk on dark earth?”

“I’m saying it’s all blending together now— / his cries & the sound of falling in love / with only part of a city, / the side that didn’t raise us.”