Poetry by Hannah Madonna

Orange You Glad

God, I’m funny

But just on paper

Don’t ask me to engage

Don’t ask me to split

The seam of my head,

Crack open my shell

And let the porous bits

Of my brain breathe

I won’t

I can’t, more like, I’m not

The type of person

Who can just

Say words -

Out loud -

To a coterie

Of adoring strangers

Please

Just let me boil in my own private sea

Of blissful, debilitating

Anxiety

I’ll be honest

I don’t think I’ve ever told a joke

Hannah Madonna is a writer from the southern United States whose work often explores nature, feminism, and living with anxiety and depression. She works as a reference librarian in a public library and starts an MFA program in 2020. Her poems have appeared in Vamp Cat Magazine, The Wild Word, and Cauldron Anthology. Find her on twitter @hannahwritegood crying about something or sharing pictures of her cat.