Tunnel of Fireflies
I had this
friend.
a friend. a friend
A friend A friend A friend. The paper people come out the train when
I followed the dark dashes to cut
Here. Instructions. Please be gentle while opening. Caution.
Rogue Schizophrenic Extra-Terrestrial. Handle with care.
He was away. I watered the forest of his room.
The plants were too heavy to carry myself.
I am too heavy to carry myself.
The house swelled in and out my body
Learning how to catch itself again.
Please be gentle while
Opening. The car door into the humid air. Into the summer night. We stepped on
rocks to go somewhere by the train tracks. Red light carving the outline of his
face. Don’t look for the foreshadowing
Here. a Tunnel of Fireflies. A forest around us but
there was no canopy. Little green fires everywhere.
There is all fire and no
language.
my friend spoke an extra terrestrial
language to me on my nineteenth birthday and
i sat in the alphabet of it all and imagine
plants and fire escapes and a canopy
to hide everyone else in the room.
there, i could form biographies inside of my head
based on the false translations of his language
[He could be saying anything]
Please, be
Gentle. It’s all stop signs. Red light. Goodnight.
Like the book. i’ll read you a children’s book.
Something along the lines of there was a green
bear in the middle of a dark starry night and the
fireflies danced around him as he lifted himself
On to two legs at the edge of the tracks bending both
his knees as if he’s going to—
By Eryka Renata
Biography
Eryka Renata is a poet from the Chicagoland area. Dedicated to craft and the avant-garde, much of her work borders the experimental while maintaining the realism of everyday life. She believes in the complex combination of art and storytelling, wishing to amplify her voice to offer a unique lens in which she sees the world. Renata is also a student of psychology who dreams to spread a long breath of compassion and empathy wherever she goes.