Sixteen.

Already weary,
I flip my pillow
to its cool side
a thousand times
this thick summer night.

I confide my
doubts to the dark…

count life’s little cruelties
while tears streak my cheeks
and soak smooth cotton.

I toss between damp sheets,
wrap fabric chrysalis
around awkward angles.

When I emerge
in morning light,
nothing has changed.

I’m sixteen.

Neva Bryan’s poetry and short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals and online magazines. Her published novels include St. Peter’s Monsters and Sawmill Boys. She is also a contributor to the anthology We All Live Downstream: Writings About Mountaintop Removal. Follow her at nevabryan.com.

Illustration by Paul Hostetler