XIII. Death (Reversed)

muffled screams
by zarnab tufail

days in and out
the tree is dying
breaking out
of the blue sky
a lightning bolt
under the old mattress and
growing-up pain
strangled into a knot
inside my brown stomach
watch me turn stars into shadows
of dust and flakes of
snow into a forest returning
spring.

zarnab tufail (she/her) is a pakistani poetess who belongs to a small village in punjab. she enjoys watching sunsets and taking silhouettes. her work has been published in Capulet Mag, sister-hood, and elsewhere.