Instead of Dying: After Lauren Haldeman

Instead of dying, you move into my apartment. It is small, we share a bed. You keep blowing smoke out the window. I get upset because you are not a train. We get navy blinds. We bake mac & laugh about glasses. We hang up the prayer rug from Turkey. We play Minecraft & the violin. You play piano. You ask me to sing. Once a week, we pick flowers we find in other people’s gardens. We put them in a crystal vase. Instead of dying, instead of being dismembered, instead of being shoved into your closet & all that, you work at Mellow Mushroom making pizzas: smashing tomatoes, always covered in flour. Your body stays your body & you listen to Romantic Works & your addiction goes away & we lie sober in the light of the Tuesday sun & you are so very very not dead.

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Skylar Wampler
is a writer and artist based in Virginia. She engages with themes of love, loss, and the natural world. She is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia, receiving her B.A. both Poetry Writing and Global Sustainability. When she’s not creating art, she can be found spending time in nature, playing board games, and enjoying time with loved ones. She has been published in several literary journals including Simple Machines: Engines of Change, Sky Island Journal, Spires Intercollegiate Arts and Literary Magazine and Chomp Journal. More of her work can be found at www.skylarwampler.com and on instagram under the handle @skylar.wampler.

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