the burn faded over the winter can’t seem to remember what closed the gate when
it was flaring up the left arm left shoulder
it hurt the most at two am three am it woke me up whenever i was trying to get back inside the body
it was never gonna stop
I pushed the word out [somebody help me] and she did
came recommended in high seal truth, una persona molto buona, serious/simple, pure of heart,
zero trading of money it would have been against the code
she said I had not wished for that particular outcome, but when a channel opens, all manner of signals can sweep in and they can and they will
she was going to put a counter-spell on [—]
or a severing ritual you do not pry
(blood and seed spilled both back in a day and how female I looked as I bled out, did I say it no, you do not spell abattoir can you spell abattoir)
has there been violence she asked and I said yes, not to me, there had been
was he violent the question, did he torch you did he cut you
not me – no time to torture, afraid to report – he hurt himself he broke his own bones he was proud of the fact,
and I said I didn’t know I did know
she had seen [violence] at the place she strode in whenever she was out boom violence
would you care to keep the channel open she asked – she sensed it was a choice in the making or it had been – and I was pulsing on a bed in the rock south west
[it was a glass house I slept in, can you believe honey
I was being delivered in a glass house]
and I said: I know he’s not coming back
but do I miss the connect
is there a way to get that lock pop without a curse
she told me to shut the door and it could happen again in the ever after so I should message her on whatsapp in case of more/new devil and she’d get back to me
she had a picture ready to boost and there it was: black stripes on yellow ground, high voltage, you must try over and over to make a shield out of the black
follow the line, focus on the black
the lines they are
you move them
over and
Barbara Genova (she/them) is a pen name. Her first published work as Barbara appeared in mid-2021: in 2022 she’s been nominated for a Best of the Net award and a Pushcart Prize. Selected credits include Hobart, Strange Horizons, Expat Press, SAND Journal and APOCALYPSE CONFIDENTIAL. She writes Runaway at https://barbaragenova.substack.com