After Mario Party 6
shame was taught to me by experience
around the time i was swallowed by a ghost,
blushing at the slightest hint of disappointment
in a lover’s voice. how could i—how dare i,
really—hold myself in such high regard when
there’s so much wrong with me? i lived in that
spectral belly until i was almost twenty-five,
lungs thick with the mists of disdain directed
at myself alone. but i came to await sunrise
after nights spent thrashing under the quilt
of horrors i sewed for myself over the years,
for the ghosts seem to scatter at daybreak.
nat raum (b. 1996) is a disabled artist, writer, and genderless disaster from Baltimore, MD. They’re the editor-in-chief of fifth wheel press, as well as the author of you stupid slut, the abyss is staring back, random access memory, and several chapbooks. Find them online: natraum.com/links.