FOR MY FRIENDS, IN REPLY TO A QUESTION by Safia Elhillo

FOR MY FRIENDS, IN REPLY TO A QUESTION I’m okay. And, of course, I’m not, but I go through the motions. I wake up to the alarm’s howl, even when the word in my body is no. I dress in livid colors. I blacken the hairs of each eyebrow. I bake & braise & pickle. I write & read & lose hours to the blur of the television. I sit for hours in the bath, my skin puckering. I don’t know if I’ll ever go home again. I don’t know who I’ve seen…

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