people – A. D. Joyce

from the
let’s not talk about me
let’s talk about you
school of thought
she’s a grown-up who never learned
object permanence

with a focus on you
she plays peek-a-boo
with her tongue as she dresses you down
and turns a lazy eye away from introspection

never wondering why she can’t feel her life
and why her body is not her own
and why it matters that everyone like her

her skin is dry to flaking
but she sweeps the dust
under an empty bed
and never says a word
to her shrouded mirror

oh what a world
what a world
where nobody loves us the way
a mother should