It’s not easy dying every second
for the sake of some mission.
What-the-Fuck-ologist, leading me
by the softest whim toward the blade.
Chickenwire undulated behind my lids
& the sky looked beat to death.
I’ve been going through my files. Who
was that? At what precise moment
did my brain tattle on itself? Everything
was a wick. Even God was worn down
by my false sirening. It’s not easy dying
without dying. Before I ever took the pills
I took so much. So much was taken. I’m
done. I’m here. A fish thrown back
to the river can’t help but swallow fistfuls
of self.
Ode to Lithium #-18: Postscript to Mania
Shira Erlichman
Summer 2016
LEARN MORE
Poetry
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Ritual by Robert Balun
This Body Keeps the Keys by Nikki Wallschlaeger
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testimony, from the sidewalk beneath them by Claire Schwartz
Self-Portrait by Quenton Baker
Ode to Lithium #-18: Postscript to Mania by Shira Erlichman
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Fiction
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Interviews
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Visual Arts
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Hank Willis Thomas
Zadie Xa
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Phoebe Collings-James
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