REVERSE EVALUATION > POETRY
A lifespan boils over the white froth
over an egg in a simmering pot
cracks me open, a chip of me flies
across the room, finds a way to my eye —
I haven’t chosen a jail yet, so
maybe tonight I’ll find what I want
before the keeper comes with a key, saying
“You must pick a hole to die in.”
To be unlocked, I have to find my own way
of hugging my knees to my chest
how my father did how my mother didn’t
select a final meal:
spreadsheets small talk calloused hands
I don’t care if the walls close in on me
walls are walls
meant to confine to constrict
and chosen is better
than nothing at all
Alma Ariaz (she/her) is a writer from Toronto, Ontario. She works as a freelance copyeditor and a social media manager for Arrival Magazine, Humber Polytechnic’s student-led literary magazine. Her current projects include a science-fiction novel and a collection of visual, mixed-media erasure poems. Her short stories and poetry have been published in literary journals online, including Writers Resist, 50-Word Stories, Mulberry Literary, and Ink in Thirds. You can find her on Instagram via @soulscrambling.