Issue #54


Authors

Crashing

Crashing

Bianca Lancia

crash

v.

1. to collapse or fail suddenly

Habitual hibernation,

body wearily awakens,

sunken eyes yearn

for ten minutes,

ten hours more,

until feeling has fled and lungs

exhale

again.

Esophagus

circumference

compresses,

mind and body too numb to function

properly, so don’t.

Am I dying?

I’m too young to die.

I must be sick.

2. to collide, especially violently and noisily

Cry out for help,

but no one

can hear me.

Isolated.

I could scream, and no one would know.

3. to break or fall to pieces with noise

Milky luminescence

pours from adjacent window,

drenching body in liquid rays.

Attempted revival, but already

fallen

too deep, drowning in wicked

thoughts.

Eyes fixed on ceiling overhead,

see nothing,

feel nothing.

Body aches, observed from above,

soul departed,

dissociated.

4. to fall asleep

Lifeless, crumbled figure

carefully cocooned between

blankets provide

zero

solace.

Eyes hollow caverns,

paralyzed, breath sparse, demon infested

head from childhood

nightmares.

This time, real.

5. to land in an abnormal manner, usually causing severe damage

The face of the disorder

grins at affliction, says to me,

You knew this was coming, didn’t you?

Darkness always

follows daylight.

I thought you knew, maybe I should have warned you,

Next time.

6. to shut down because of a malfunction of hardware or software

Tells me not to become too

comfortable.

I laugh.

I am anything

but

comfortable.

Just what it wants.

Tell it to leave, doesn’t

listen.

Frantically searching muddled memory for

euphoric joy,

intoxicated lungs,

immortal

sparkle

and shine, refusal

to diminish.

Brain willfully washed

remnants away.

I won’t remember

until it

returns.

A Dossier, or a case study, or that night I didn’t go home

Ancestral Land, 2,800 miles from Home