THIS YEAR’S SECRET

Miss Sugar Mamasota

After the flood 

It took me so long to come home

I was afraid I'd arrive to an empty lot

As I stood facing the place I ran from

I saw the land 

Overgrown

A wild garden 

There was a sweet fragrance 

There were poison leaves and thorns

I found peace in the bramble 

Flesh sunk in deep binding to the soil

Until violently uprooted

I didn't see a way for me to survive 

So I fled

Now I'm starved

I'm homesick

And I'm walking back to the place I ran from 

I don't see my home 

I only see the broken windows that need attention 

I see a busted up foundation I've acquired through unnegotiable inheritance 

I see crooked locks

I'm learning that they don't need prying or replacing

There's a trick to them 

That’s the real point of it all

But there are times

After a long day of repairs

I lean my hand into a forgotten piece of broken glass 

And I can't stop crying 

Miss Sugar Mamasota is writer and performer currently based in Brooklyn. She is a resident burlesque performer for Disasterpiece Theater and they are the host of The Sad Boy Club. You can find her written work in the recently published Hustling Verse by Amber Dawn.