Freedom in the dead snow, in the still air where the everlasting sleep in the silence, in the night i find that i can breathe. though i have lost more than i thought, i think i can see. i’m finding it hard to handle the heat. my heart blinds me. the space you once filled inside my lungs is vacant; i can’t speak. my throat is raw, my teeth stained with truth, red and bloody. i killed what i had to, my dear. it’s survival and liberty. i tore myself from your side to ensure my own safety. i destroyed my mind and i buried it in peace, so that maybe i could, maybe, oh, i’ll never be sure of it (and i suppose we never are) but in the death of my old life, my old ghosts, my old faces, i am born again; i am Free
— Amelia Metcalf
Georgetowner 2020
26
