Daughter Mined With Mercury by Shagufta Mulla

Daughter Mined With Mercury

by Shagufta Mulla

published in Blood Orange Review, 2021 (Contest Winner)

You painted me in shadowy stripes of your choosing, iron bars

that stung my fingers and tongue

to break up my beams of gold.

I remember playing

with loose beads of mercury. sleepwalking, falling out of bed.

talking in my sleep.

I got up in the dark and couldn’t find

the door. I traced back to my bed

and hid under the sheets. Did I break the thermometer? I don’t remember,

but I kind of hope I did.