Be Not Far from Me

by Mindy McGinnis

The world is not tame.

You don’t have to be making sounds to communicate, and there’s a lot that has passed between us under the stars and leaves that I would never say to anyone else, in words or otherwise.

In nature it’s the male that does the mating dances, but we somehow got that all backward; it’s us girls that learn to do the preening and positioning.

Shame burns over time, leaving behind a scar that puckers up and shines so that it can’t ever be quite forgotten.

I’m determined to save my own life, not because it’s worth living but because I don’t want to disappoint a dead possum.

I do not know if I am panicking or if this is the most sane I have ever been.