Poetry by Juliette Sebock

You don't bring Advil to a knife fight

once again,

it's like someone's

thrust

a knife deep

inside of me

and

I wonder

how I've made it

this long

and

gotten this far

without screaming,

falling

to the floor

and

clutching

myself,

a stream

of tears

sliding

wildly

down my face

to puddle

against

my chest

and I don't know.

what I do know

is that I can't

let her see

this pain

and

I can't

let him know

the depth

so instead I press

nail

into fingertip,

tooth

into lower lip

and

exhale

a cool

stream

that resembles

relief.

Juliette Sebock is the author of Mistakes Were Made and has work in publications including Royal Rose Mag and Cauldron Anthology. She is the editor-in-chief of Nightingale & Sparrow and runs a lifestyle blog, For the Sake of Good Taste. When she isn't writing (and sometimes when she is) she can be found with a cup of coffee and her cat, Fitz. She can be reached at her website and across social media at @juliettesebock. She is a regular contributor of Marías at Sampaguitas.