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Chrystina Mansker
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How many shades of brown
cover the floors and the walls of
a place unfamiliar to some eyes,
but not yours?
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Curiosity is the enemy for a
conversation unending where nothing
is said and all one can cling to is
the hope knees might touch.
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Can you smell the cigarettes
on my breath or on my
clothes or in the rug below
the stool where I am floating?
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Time freezes until it doesn't
and we are reminded of
a reality that we both live in
while we ignore the truth.
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How much longer will the
freezer-burn sting? It is
97 degrees. To admit I miss you
will make it too real.
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Chrystina Mansker is a poet, math educator, and Delaware native living in the Bay Area. She daydreams. Libra sun, Pisces moon, Scorpio rising.