Wings (Jasmine Ledesma)

Report Summary

patient is twenty years old / hair
curled with cherry stems / speaks 
fast as divorce / hasn’t slept in three days / 
patient answers questions with more
questions / how did I get here? / where
is my blood? / what is the tiger for? /
there is no tiger / patient convinced she
has wings / they are big and hurt her back /
she is never in danger / her brain is psychic /
can read my mind / said I am in love with
her / I am not / patient presents with delusions /
she is kurt cobain / she is britney / she is
being recorded / patient is manic / patient
is psychotic / patient is being held down /  
patient is brimming / patient burns

Lithium, 600mg

They’ve managed to wrangle
me out of the jungle. 
Ward is a pretty word. 
My light is an open wound 
leaking prayer.
They want to protect it.  
There is always somebody 
else in the room. 
In the mirror, I look like
an apocalypse.  
I don’t care about being safe.
I want my tiger and
Kim’s left eye.
I call my mother and wait
for her to answer.
I’ve finally gotten caught.  
I am magic nobody can see.

 


Jasmine Ledesma lives in New York. Her work has appeared in places such as The Southampton Review, Glitter MOB, Gone Lawn and [PANK] among others. She has won the John Costello Award in creative nonfiction. Find more from Jasmine on her website