Siobhan Jean-Charles

Dysania

I want to give you a Haitian goodbye. The initial farewell
at dusk while we talk at the table until the ice is beaded dew 

on glass. Stand on the threshold for two hours,
one hand on the doorknob. On the steps until 

the porch light thrusts our shadows to the car
to sit in the driveway, windows down, key in 

the ignition and a miasma of wasted gas. I lie
to my parents and everyone knows where I am. 

The tickle of mosquitos, the blood that pounds
in my shuffling 

feet is my inheritance–the mannerisms of unspoken
pleas, the denial I don’t want to leave.

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Siobhan Jean-Charles is an English major at Salisbury University. She is a reader for the University's literary magazine, Scarab, and a writing consultant for the writing center. She enjoys writing poetry that explores nature, power dynamics and internalized oppression.