Aishamanne Williams
made a discovery when i was born my eyes were moths to the light the midwife said i had a shining inside everyone believed from afar they saw the smoke rise thought fire must be near so they were moths to me i thought my wings were woven with a false silk so i stayed close to ground lest they perish mid-air when they were torn from my back by a boy with sugar on his tongue and heat in his step who swore he really did care everyone said they saw me in a vision wrapped in a white cloth shining from the inside like a crystal ball they said they saw me up high and i didn’t fall so i believed the cloth granted me purity until i found it had been blemished by a stain a mark of a bleeding inside so it started feeling like a cage i turned it inside out so everyone couldn’t see but the blood ran too deep i painted the cloth black and donned a cloak of rebirth then everyone grieved brought offerings to the temple of my familiar held my hand and held a seance i spoke life to deaf ears so they thought i couldn’t breathe 104
