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Belonging, Melody Wang


CW: death, ghost


Magnolia Street saw the horror of a decade,

smoke snaking up the Victorian, a life snuffed

inside the back house: "just a recluse", they spewed

salty scorn that seeped into the louvered wood. Still,

you hover near its shingled roof & spires, ivy muscling

itself into the balcony’s worn railings — so eager

to escape the cruelty of the outside world,

to embrace the dingy walls that held the

gravitas of home, a sacred resting place

to birth the only monsters that held you

in their grasp. You watch bystanders hurry past

with wild, unseeing eyes. They shudder to feel

your faint aura brushing just one side

of their bodies as the fading scent of old roses

perfumes the portal that spans between

you and those that effortlessly belong

to a kinder world that, try as you might,

somehow still eludes you


 

Melody Wang currently resides in sunny Southern California with her dear husband. In her free time, she dabbles in piano composition and also enjoys hiking, baking, and playing with her dogs. She is a reader for Sledgehammer Lit and can be found on Twitter @MelodyOfMusings.

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