Let Me

How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways-

1. Obligatorily, with a hand around my neck

2. With blood so thick that I’m choking, submerged in it

3. And water so fleeting, running from the harsh words you taught me to say, the selfishness your DNA gave me

4. with X’s in red lipstick counting down the days until I can leave this awful house

5. with the prickling of your beard rubbing me raw with tears

6. carved in lies like a moth drawn to your gaslight until he flames consume me and I'm nothing but the ash of stupid naive brainless bug

7. crying in the girl’s room outside my 7th grade homeroom, clutching a science test like a security blanket

8. prodigally like the southern protestant blood washing over my aching bones that creaked under the weight of me like church pews

and finally, keeping your dirty secrets, fantasizing of the day I can spill them over your dirty grave, because I know, my love, that I shall love you even better in death

About the Author

Cassandra Parnell is an International Peace and Conflict Resolution student originating from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She is proud to be a member of the queer and disabled communities on Arcadia's campus and finds writing inspiration in her friends, mental health, and social justice activism.