(Ma ma) sleeps
with a knife
under her pillow
(her dreams are
(safer than mines)
I grabbed a butter
knife, put it inside
my pillowcase
dreamed a man
climbed inside
my window
climbed inside my
body dreamed a man
kissed me on
my thing, kissed me
it’ll be okay,
dreamed I reached
for my knife,
put shaky
fingers underneath
the pillowcase and
felt nothing.
the knife slipped
from the case,
laid on the floor
next to me
wonder if the thump
woke mama
wonder if she
heard my skin
breaking
Starr Davis is a poet from Columbus, Ohio currently residing in New York City as an MFA Candidate in Creative Writing at City College of New York. Her poetry has been published in Kalyani Magazine, Rigorious Magazine, Lipstickparty Magazine, and The Promethean. She works as a Creative Writing Mentor for Writopia. She lives in the Bronx, NY.