PLEASE, I ONLY NEED TEN
SHAI BARDIN | Dawn To Dusk 2019
a foreign body wraps ‘round my neck
and dances on my belly.
he shudders at my composition
(twice as many eyes and only half the focus)
I am no cyclops like you, dear python,
the divots by my right eye agree
he reddens, stiffens,
the deer remains stagnant
may I touch you? may I hold you?
I stroke his nose, he blinks
please, I only need ten…
Shai Bardin, Saint Ann’s School (Brooklyn, NYC) | 2019 Emerging Storyteller Recipient at Boyd’s Station