A Love Song / A Battle Cry

Maia Huddleston

my great grandmother weeping in the room next door. her husband’s face turned to stone
and their opacity dissipates by the second

i read that stress will steal years from me in the form of insurance co-pays. my heart beats in holy
matrimony with the peeling scabs underneath

they’re tearing up the highway at home to insert a corporate roundabout. because everyone was begging
for some construction
and it gives the new conference center some space to breathe

when i was ten, the softball girls tried to drown me in the public pool. a man with dark chest hair grabbed
me and pressed me to him,
just close enough to save

hey google: how can you compare general anxiety to common emotion?

are we nervous or just excited for the sequel?