The Bones Below Quotes

“When he sleeps,
the snoring does not bother me:
the rhythmic growl, gravel shoved
across the sidewalk of his throat.
It is the grasping, desperate way
in which he takes in air—his gulping lungs
as if every dream is filled with water
and he is trying to inflate
the life jacket under his skin.

I babble in my sleep. He believes
I am trying to tell him how my heart works,
says he will translate the manual one day.
I want to ask him: am I the ocean?
Are you drowning in everything
I don’t say when I’m awake?”

—Heart Apnea”
― Sierra Demulder, The Bones Below

“the person who did this to you is broken. Not you.
The person who did this to you is out there,
choking on the glass of his chest.
It is a windshield
and his heartbeat is a baseball bat:
regret this, regret this.

Nothing was stolen from you.
Your body is not a hand-me-down.
There is nothing that sits inside you holding your worth,
no locket that can be seen or touched,
fucked from your stomach to be left on concrete.”
― Sierra DeMulder, The Bones Below

“ODE TO CARBONATION you taste like what I imagine swallowing radio wires feels like: all sparks and pop music in my throat.”
― Sierra Demulder, The Bones Below: Poems by Sierra Demulder

“MEMORIAL The bonfire from last night had been swallowed by the earth and covered with white ash. We placed lawn chairs on its grave, sat on the blanket of dust and spoke about things we pretended not to miss— oblivious to the stubborn kindling that refused to let go of the fire which had burned so strongly for it once.”
― Sierra Demulder, The Bones Below: Poems by Sierra Demulder

“HEART APNEA When he sleeps, the snoring does not bother me: the rhythmic growl, gravel shoveled across the sidewalk of his throat. It is the grasping, desperate way in which he takes in air – his gulping lungs as if every dream is filled with water and he is trying to inflate the life jacket under his skin. I babble in my sleep. He believes I am trying to tell him how my heart works, says he will translate the manual one day. I want to ask him: am I the ocean? Are you drowning in everything I don’t say when I’m awake?”
― Sierra Demulder, The Bones Below: Poems by Sierra Demulder

“him”
― Sierra Demulder, The Bones Below: Poems by Sierra Demulder

“The bonfire from last night had been swallowed by the earth and covered with white ash. We placed lawn chairs on its grave, sat on the blanket of dust and spoke about things we pretended not to miss— oblivious to the stubborn kindling that refused to let go of the fire which had burned so strongly for it once.”
― Sierra Demulder, The Bones Below: Poems by Sierra Demulder