tales of a space rock

poem | you used to be my home

Feeling extra guilty about not posting STCFU so I thought I'd just share a narrative poem I wrote for English like seven months ago. I don't usually write poetry but I'm thinking of trying some out. Enjoy!

YOU USED TO BE MY HOME

I'm sitting by the seaside
The water roars, but it's not enough
I still hear the scrape of her nails on wood as she tried to claw her way away from the gallows
I still see the noose around her neck, thick rope pulled tight and
Snap!
It's because of the crescent-shaped mark on her forearm
(A witch's mark? No, it can't be)
And because the baby she sung to is dead
But I saw her
She kissed the baby's forehead, dried his tears with her skirts
She loved him like her own
In return, Salem deemed her a witch
Now crows caw in her absence, tiny ebony beaks pecking at rotting skin
Now all I hear are her screams

One day more
I'm standing in the square
The neighbors whose arms I burrowed in when I was young are pointing fingers
Not at me
At Gideon
Who shares my eyes, my nose, my face
Sarah got sick with yellow fever
But what does that have to do with my brother?
An odd shape of brown on the small of his back
Never exposed
How did they find it?
He is saying my name when they take him away
"Elizabeth"
"Elizabeth"
"Please"
The tears on my face have no shame
Salem, why?
I run to seaside, searching in the churning waters and in the somber clouds
But I don't see God

The day of the trial, the wind howls angrily
I wonder if it knows what's coming
Gideon's cloths are brown with dirt and wet with his tears
He smells faintly of horse
I stand so close to the gallows that I feel it tremble beneath his weight; I see the sea on his ghastly cheeks
But the shackles gnawing at his wrists are heavier
When he begins to shake, I want to reach out and touch him
I want to tell him that I'm there
I want to tell him that it's going to be okay
But I do nothing
God was supposed to do something
Where is he?
The shackles are broken
Gideon heaves a long, shaky breath
Salem roars
I hear the rocks before I see them, clacking against stone as most miss the target
But some don't—a blur of black slams into mud-stained skin until it's red and peeling and dripping with red
This isn't a trial; it's an execution

At last I look up to try and meet Gideon's eyes
Like a storm, the blue churns witch such an intensity that I feel a pang in my chest
Is he in pain?
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
He's mouthing my name
I open my mouth but no sound comes out; for once in my life I can't say his name
I'm afraid
I'm afraid of his name
I don't want my neck bent so cruelly
I don't want birds plucking my eyeballs from their sockets
I want to be buried in a cemetery, where the gravestone is carved with my name and the roses are fresh
I want to be remembered
His fingers arch towards me, blood caught beneath his nails
I want to reach back, but I don't
I don't say his name
He tilts his head back like a tiny, beautiful wren
A slow blink
A silent plea
I refuse to close my eyes as the tears begin to fall and
Snap!
The second time I hear this sound, it's louder
It rings in my head
Once
Twice
One thousand times

When I run to the seaside again, I look to the sky
But not for God
The seaside is quiet, safe
The water roars so loud that I can't hear Salem
(And they can't hear me)
So I say his name
Again
And again.