was pain.
There were drops of blood
behind eye lids
as the numbers on the clock
trickled downwards,
red tears ticking,
taking the hands with them,
and I kept time, still, like a secret.
I waited, wiping away
the seconds that dripped by,
flushed hours,
then days, then weeks
from my mind
until, finally, the clock struck blood
and the pain that came with it
was relief.
Beth O’Brien is a writer, editor and reviewer. She is the author of Light Perception (Wild Pressed Books, 2019), I Left the Room Burning (Wild Pressed Books, 2021), The Earth is a Bookcase (Black Pear Press, 2021), Catching Sight (Blanket Sea Press, 2021) and I Chase Lightning (Black Pear Press, 2022). She is the editor of Disabled Tales, a website dedicated to discussing disability in fairy tales and folklore.
Latest posts by Beth O’Brien (see all)
- The aftermath - 26th February 2023