HOME TURF

fingers prickled with gasoline
and
honeysuckle bowing in the wind
and
the serpent i bear on my neck like a cross
and
everyone’s art being better than mine
and
the never healing scab beneath my lower canine
and
would i like to finish this slab of pie?
and
the mouse lying lifeless in a silver stiletto
and
father constantly torn between thought and sanity
and
one caked eyebrow perched slightly above the other
and
no emails marked “important” since November
and
you bit off more than you can chew, little girl
and
mother’s real hair getting thinner and extensions growing longer
and
yes, it’s what’s expected of me, isn’t it?
and
the lying mirror in my bedroom
and
where are you even going, baby?
and
the floral nightgown buried in the second drawer on the left
and
the dragonfly resting on a soft, slouched shoulder
and
the giddy laughter at the breakfast table
and
i'm not
and
i'm never
and
i'm -
please don’t let me go.

---

Celine Jafar, 16, Azerbaijan ✯ IG & TT: @worthlesswonderings

“Celine Jafar is a student and poet based in Baku, Azerbaijan. She is a human (she'd like to believe) who  is yet to be formed. Celine has a constant urge to create and devour art in all its forms. She feels there is a creature living deep inside her belly, scratching its way closer to the surface each day. Writing is the only remedy that seems to calm it down for a little while. In her spare time, she enjoys reading books sprawled on  the battered family sofa and pondering over the meaning of existence with her cat.”