Destapled

Eden Julia Sugay

Say my name.

Trace my letters across your eyelids.

Circle your heart three times—

you will never be rid of me.

Trace my letters across your eyelids.

Light a candle where the wick won’t split.

You will never be rid of me.

Try to take the short way home.

Light a candle where the wick won’t split.

Lock your doors without looking back.

Try to take the short way home.

Lace your fingers across your chest.

Lock your doors without looking back.

Sleep with both eyes half-open.

Lace your fingers across your chest.

Say your name (you can’t).

Eden Julia Sugay (they/them) is a writer and editor based in Oakland. They hold a BA in Creative Writing from Mills College and an MFA in Writing from University of San Francisco. Their work has been supported by Kearny Street Workshop, Berkeley Poetry Festival, The Writers Grotto, Folkways Press, Four Leaf Collective, Kissing Dynamite, and The Walrus.