Trauma Dump?

---

Annette Greenberg

 

Do tell me about the sunset,

But only how it looked to you

On the worst evening of your life 

When you were eight and a half. 

 

Please believe me when I tell you—

I do want to hear about how the rain doesn’t 

Cause any pain to the corn plants 

You’ve been growing in tiny pots

Since November of fifth grade, 

And how starkly adamant you were that

Nobody should over-water them. 

 

I’ll learn the name of your imaginary friend 

Who never got her start, 

And now hides in the basement of your father’s house 

With a pink sequined safe-box 

And guards your old, bleeding heart.

 

And as she is in your mind,

Do not worry about the stench

That your idle friend’s corpse may cause. 

 

Do tell me about that sunset, 

But I cannot, 

I will not, 

Hear you apologize. 

 

---

Annette Greenberg is an English major at Rutgers and will graduate in 2027. She is from East Brunswick and loves writing, going on long walks, and listening to music.