Through State Meadows
Today's Inspiration:
Spoiler
Today's song was Midwest Indigo by Twenty One Pilots. I rolled spoken word based on the song title.
I braid Michigan butterfly weed in my hair.
I call it my Monarch wings. The algae and wood rot have infested my soul. My fingernails house earthworms that the steelhead try to eat.
I travel south to escape the mildew. Tiger lilies pace in their cages and nip at my ankles on the road to Texas. They know I don't belong in the place of mountains and sun. I belong in a wooden cabin in a termite hill. My skin is one big sunburn. I want to head home.
Instead, I travel east to taste the sea. Fish geranium keeps me company as the Maine salt makes my eyes sting. I don't know what I expected from the ports and the oysters and the smoggy city. But the mold seeps in through the moisture.
Turning west, I set my sights on the lush forests of Washington. Buttercups point and laugh as the ticks are too disgusted to give me Lyme Disease. The mushrooms follow me and try to eat the rot that bubbles beneath the surface. After days of aching, I know the choice is to let them consume me or to run.
I go home to the Great Lakes. The butterflies have been replaced with twigs. The burns are covered in sand and salt. I collapse into the mud, feeling it fill every wound on my calves. From my handprints, I meet Susan with her black eyes. We make eye contact.
I finally let myself cry.
