Poetry By Angelique Johnston

Eric Sonstroem CC



 when


when i found you
there was no air
just a choke hold 
by the hands of time.

when i
tumbled forward to
write your memorial,
time
tightly tucked itself 
between 
an ever-present here 
and an untraceable 
nowhere
past track-lines 
on your arms
i can still see.

now
in moments
when i am lost, 
in-between 
in a tunnel of words 
i think i 
am saying to you,
please don’t leave me,
instead i am 
hearing long-gone heaves 
of labored breathing 
from gray blue lips, 
repeating
what did you take?

now
contractions have begun--
did you climb 
back up inside
my womb 
when you died? 
i can feel you in 
my chest--
and i am straining 
to push--
and they told me this is the 
worst 
a person could ever feel--

now 
can i, we 
be beautiful and made new?
writhing into 
a first breath--
as if there is no
you or me?



Angelique Johnston is a writing instructor at a local community college and has a few previous publications. They include "Wallpaper Cars" in Mom Egg Review and “Stretch Marks” which can be found online at http://www.imperfectparent.com.
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