Elizabeth DeMartino
The Ecosystem
When it feels like this,
talking to him
is
raccooning
after the scraps.
Scouring for something to say to you
so the ecosystem we have built
of
gnawed bones, apple cores,
and littered wrappers like
one word answers
carries on
tonight.
When it feels like this,
like scavenging animals
searching for substance
in the dimly lit streets -
even as it screams
rotten
on the tongue -
it makes her question
when she started to
pretend
she couldn’t taste
the difference.