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.