Inland
by Samantha Malay
published April 2019 in Projector Magazine
http://www.projectormagazine.co.uk

reprinted in Heirlock Magazine, issue 3 ‘Home,’ July 2020
https://indd.adobe.com/view/884eb3ba-39df-4e16-a79d-196b84894162

reprinted February 2021 by In Parentheses, https://inparentheses.art/2021/02/09/inland-and-other-poems-by-s-malay/

in the seams of sleep
the curtains were stained where they stuck to the glass
answers were eavesdropped
and icicles dripped from the roof of the porch
while our coats hung on nails and bread baked inside
near a hinge in the floor where we left all our questions
like cups upside down to guard against bugs
and handwritten notes under root cellar jars
between bent hasps and splintered slats
pillowcase creases and windowsill light
I am pulling on threads and begging the ash