no trace
by Divyanshi Dash
CW: mention of dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, abandonment
a beach-house under construction stands as lonely as me it looks
sad full of ugly junk & yet hollow like an empty can of coke like a bro-
-ken flute my hands draw on the sand my name in cursive transience can
fuck off i believe in catching ghosts and finding bottles with messages on the
shore lost and abandoned since two thousand two the year i was born the year every
thing changed trust me i don’t believe in promises but if i ever find a message in a bottle
a cry in distress i will dye my hair blue i will do it in secret my mother hates it my mother will hate it she will scream and i will scream back the buses will forget to pick me up the next
day i will be found stranded sleeping on the beach tongue all salty hair all rubbish please
pinch me if i dream again i will run for the waves and water can be my lover i can
dance like a swan float like a piece of wrapper fold myself into the tiniest person
ever i will disappear into the water my body all swallowed up dare anyone
to find me this will become a landfill and nobody will know i was here
A monochromatic leaves enthusiast, Divyanshi Dash (she/her) believes in poetry as a prayer. Her work has appeared in The Walled City Journal, Sapphic Writers, and Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine among others. She is currently based in New Delhi, India. You can find more of her at divyanshidash.carrd.co!