When They Ask If I’m Okay | Maria Provenzano

4 mins read

“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.