What If I Were To Drown?

She floats in the pool

water filling her ears

muffling the sounds

of the world around her.

Releasing the breath from

her lungs just like

her dad taught her, she sinks

to the bottom as the air

races to the top,

and she wonders,

how long she can stay under.

And what would happen

If she didn’t come back up

By Morgan Baker

Breathing Is Claustrophobic

Collect yourself.

Breathe.

4 beats in.

Hold it for 4 more.

4 beats out.

Feel.

Touch.

Hear.

Taste.

See.

By Morgan Baker

Undiagnosed

“You eat as much as your father.”

“You eat like a grown man.”

“Of course you can eat first,

She’s had enough.”

“My kids were always hungry.”

And now there’s a story.

One told with pride that involves

Sports and games

And she still doesn’t realize,

We’re one in the same.

By Morgan Baker

Her Green Gaurdians

The green giants

Stand tall along the fence.

Guards against this house.

Offering a stretched out hand

That I grasp with my full strength.

Green giants who carry me

For years at that kitchen table

Where I’m forced to

Choke down food

And mocked to force

It back up.

By Morgan Baker

Get Off Your Phone

One percent down.‍ ‍

A fading green,

Just a step from the imminent red

Of the low battery.

One percent down.

Alone with the people

Who pray on the fears

That they tell me only I can see.

One percent down.‍ ‍

I need to make it home.

What happens if I call my mom?

The green glare mocks me.

One percent down.

My persistent stare threatens it to drop again.

The people in this house circle me:

“Always on your phone.”

One percent down.

My lifeline out of this place is dying—

I don’t want to be here.

But I’m not allowed to go home.

By Morgan Baker

Did You Win Or Lose?

I ran to you

In the middle of the night

On cracked bare feet.

And you latch onto me,

Like it’s been months in a week.

By Morgan Baker

Midwestern Rain

The smell of a heavy, unruly storm

drifts into the open windows.

A periodical show for the plains to watch.

A musical it starts the routine—

Explode.

Dark.

Heavy.

Loud.

Just as quickly as it rolled in,

the world falls quiet

For the final credits, and

Standing misty standing ovation.

A delicate peace like the butterfly’s wings

That only approaches this house in moments

Such as these.

My lungs expand to hold

The smell of the midwest rain

As it fades gently away in the plain.

I wish for it to come back—

And carry me away.

By Morgan Baker

Midwest Fairy

I want to

Strap on my wings

And dance in the rain.

I want to run

With my bare feet

Through the yellow forest of hay.

I want to chase

the end of the rainbow

Miles away to see what awaits.

A midwest fairy,

Who flies away.

By Morgan Baker