“But though I tried so hard, my little darlin’, I couldn’t keep the night from coming in.” – Joanna Newsom
crushed into powder I might be poison or potion
I don’t know I don’t know anything I am
colorless no pigment I am not diamond dust
that residue of shimmer from the faceting machine
I am not glass or crystal I am nothing lovely
under my skin desert sand that does not lead
to sea quartzite particle I am already obliterated
no water no soil nothing will grow here
no light to help me morph into anything worth
anything there’s nothing to find nothing
resonant in this hollow don’t go looking
don’t go looking don’t go
Maria Provenzano (she/her) lives by the southern New Jersey shore with her best friend (a phenomenal writer, professor, and human) and their three small and furry children: Sweet Potato Pancake (rabbit), Peregrin Took, and Midnight (guinea pigs). She often writes about rocks, animals, and trains. You can find her on Instagram @maria.writes.poems.