voicemails from the casket, Marta Špoljar

CW: mentions of death

call off the funeral –

i said, i changed my mind, i said,

i am not dying. call off the guests,

i want time alone with you. call off

the embalmers, the catering, keep just

the flowers. i'll pay for them. call it

an apology. call it a romantic gesture, just

call me back. i am sorry, i swear,

i swear i changed my mind. i am not dead

and i am not dying. i am never putting

you through this again. every grave,

i will crawl out of. every urn,

i will spill back into your arms. so many times

i have walked out on you. as many times, you

let me back in. this is the last time

i will ask this of you, just

call off the funeral – don't let them bury me

don't let them burn me out of our future.

call off the funeral, call off the mortuary,

i know you hear me calling, let me in again.

please,

while my limbs are still warm.

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Marta Špoljar is a translation student from Zagreb, Croatia. Her poetry has appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic and Pollux Journal and she can be found running social media for The Wondrous Real Magazine. Words she cannot put into poetry she tweets from @shhhhhpoljar.