{"id":329,"date":"2024-11-20T22:15:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T22:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/?page_id=329"},"modified":"2024-11-30T03:30:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T03:30:36","slug":"sipping-tea-with-skeletons","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/sipping-tea-with-skeletons\/","title":{"rendered":"Sipping Tea With Skeletons"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Megan Spreadbury\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent so much time clawing at my soul<\/span><\/p>\n

willing bloody fingernails to let go<\/span><\/p>\n

while tendrils of damp skin<\/span><\/p>\n

left remnants of past sin<\/span><\/p>\n

as teeth sunk into bones<\/span><\/p>\n

and made my humanity unknown<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent so much time touching life<\/span><\/p>\n

not knowing the knife<\/span><\/p>\n

of time twisted its sharp edge<\/span><\/p>\n

and wedged itself on the ledge<\/span><\/p>\n

between my rib cage<\/span><\/p>\n

while dissipating rage<\/span><\/p>\n

the reaper handed poison remedies<\/span><\/p>\n

for my home in insanity<\/span><\/p>\n

clamped down on vanity<\/span><\/p>\n

and whispered for an eternity<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cwho are you supposed to be\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent afternoon tea<\/span><\/p>\n

inside dark corridors<\/span><\/p>\n

cornered by lofty shadows<\/span><\/p>\n

holding cross bows<\/span><\/p>\n

as death loomed closer<\/span><\/p>\n

spilled scalding tea over gossamer<\/span><\/p>\n

a now shimmering darkness<\/span><\/p>\n

creating a fortress<\/span><\/p>\n

and all that was left were silent screaming voices<\/span><\/p>\n

trapped with life choices<\/span><\/p>\n

biding their time<\/span><\/p>\n

with small compact crimes<\/span><\/p>\n

that held no value<\/span><\/p>\n

but formed broken avenues<\/span><\/p>\n

so as time kept going<\/span><\/p>\n

their souls were slowing<\/span><\/p>\n

and stopped showing kindness<\/span><\/p>\n

only wishing the timeless<\/span><\/p>\n

slow of earth<\/span><\/p>\n

would capture their self-worth<\/span><\/p>\n

and preserve what little skin was left<\/span><\/p>\n

not torn with marks of death<\/span><\/p>\n

but still they withered, lacking depth<\/span><\/p>\n

and all they found<\/span><\/p>\n

wedged between time and ground<\/span><\/p>\n

as they dug up black dirt<\/span><\/p>\n

silencing each soul’s quiet hurt<\/span><\/p>\n

was the worth on a cold ring finger<\/span><\/p>\n

and the atmosphere of a reapers linger<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Megan Spreadbury\u00a0 I spent so much time clawing at my soul willing bloody fingernails to let go while tendrils of damp skin left remnants of past sin as teeth sunk into bones and made my humanity unknown I spent so much time touching life not knowing the knife of time twisted its sharp edge Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":57,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-329","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/329\/revisions\/330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/20-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}