Tele vision
I’m staring at the TV
where my face is brandished back at me,
and somewhere between
the liquid crystal and emitted light
a gun manifests in my hand,
all but one bullet fired
And I’ll forget my sisters,
until I pry the screen from the frame
and dismantle the picture
wire by wire,
wire by wire
until the image caught
behind my eyelids, scraping
my corneas, returns
to the clarity of
static
And I’ll forget my brothers,
until the mirrors unwarp
and lenses are distorted to fit
the misshapen clarity of
children and prophets,
prophets and children,
whose truths would dress the
incessant burning of lies
There’s always blood in my eyes.
Monty Cooke (they/he) is a junior adolescent English education major studying at SUNY Fredonia. Their poems have been featured in The Trident and Gandy Dancer.