respite
the pill is robin’s egg blue,
would maybe crack the same
between their teeth, spill bitter guts
onto their tongue, if they bit down,
bite down, bite down, come the little
whispers, but they can’t, shouldn’t,
won’t, only sip water cold and crystalline
so like a magic trick the pill slips
down their throat and disappears,
disappearing them in turn into dreams,
for just a little while.
Nyx Lewis-Schmidt is a queer, trans non-binary, autistic, disabled poet. When speaking fails them, they find their voice in poetry. Their book, Claimings and Other Wild Things is out now.