Poetry Corner: “I Have Ended My Reign” by Alexandra Martinez

I have ended my reign
of screaming into pillows/under bridges
with strangers
I respectfully tender my resignation —
I KNOW THE END.
The end is all of this/none of this
The end is
my throat
no longer ravaged
my voice
no longer shot
my fingernails
pristinely dirty from doing
whatever I want
cleaning up
after only myself
being right, being wrong
I know the end
the end is silence and
the smell of the desert
and
not this

Alexandra Martinez is the author of HEARTBREAKER (Wax Nine, 2022) and Our Lady of Perpetual Desert (Inlandia Books, 2023). She lives in Joshua Tree, CA. You can listen to her locally run radio show, PEQUENA CRETIÑA on Other Desert Radio at www.otherdesertradio.com

Photo Credit: Alexandra Martinez

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