My heart is dwelling
between the fullness of my hips.

The sky swaddled the earth,
in gelatinous brutality.

Something inside me is,
scraping the seams,
across my eye sockets.

Shoving and pulling,
the curtain of bones,
veiling me in white satin.

I will die,
face up to the sky,
bare back,
against fresh fertile soil.

Let the air press its lips,
against the heat in me.

Let the dirt taste,
my salty, sweaty back,
the tears in my eyes,
the rivers between my throat.

Its teeth,
and tongue, admiring,
everything human that is left of me.

I want to end,
where life begins.

And then I want,
to be forgotten.

Bella Melardi is a poet and author. She writes about the political and personal. She attends OCADU and is getting a bachelor's degree in creative writing. Her Instagram is @poetluvs.