Mandy Jo Angleberger

Escuchar a escondidas

I can hear you
As I stand quietly dropping eaves at the bottom of creaky stairs
The letters of my name deliberately jammed between the cavities of your teeth
Envious and resentful
Playing with double-sided matches in a flammable house of cellophane
I remain unnaturally silent
One hand placed behind my back, twisting and pulling the end of my braid
Listening to the parasite infestation in the walls



The Mosquito

I seek love
I am constantly searching for companionship
A warm body to press against my own
Burrowing beneath thin hair
To find a patch of skin to call mine
Succumb to our unhealthy co-dependant relationship
One-sided and parasitic
Let me use you
Let me leave you open and inflamed
Let me leave with the metallic taste of you coating my tongue



Sleeping with the Sandman

Crawling back into the familiar sleep scent
The sour-sweat smell I find between blankets
Subtle yet lingering
It surrounds me in my bed,
Stirring memories of waking from nightmares
I had crushed-Prozac pudding and lipstick for breakfast again
Too exhausted to feign an appetite

All day I walk in a drowsy haze
At night I sleep with the Sandman
Vacant eyes and serrated smile
Forcing his thin, crooked lips on my neck
I can feel every ridge in his backbone, when I try to push him away
Burning touch like a branding iron
Scars that itch upon waking
Tossing and turning with the sandman 'til dawn
And when I wake he's gone
Leaving his side of the bed warm
Mine damp with cold sweat


Mandy Jo Angleberger is a 21 year old poet, photographer and artist from Frederick, Maryland. Her work has recently been published in Drown In My Own Fears poetry journal.
 

Current Issue:
January 2013

Mandy Jo Angleberger
Natalie Carpentieri
Holly Day
James H. Duncan
Don Kloss
Kirby Light
Raina Masters
Linda Price

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