Richelle Kota (she/her) is a writer, nature enthusiast, and a student living in Philadelphia. In 2017 she released her first self-published work, Where There Were Roses: A Memoir Through Poems. Her work has been published by Cordella Magazine, Visual Verse, and Recenter Press. She aspires to live a very simple life on a farm with many pigs, goats, and dogs. You can follow her @tiniestdad on Instagram.
1 prose poem by Richelle Kota
How Many Times Will We Go Over This?
Was there a fire? I can’t seem to remember anything, but the bullet that
didn’t enter in a straight line. I experienced pain that controlled my
whole body. My hands carried an invisible heaviness. I was so sad.
Dead and far away, I found a
tiny bit of him that wasn’t
gone.
I found a bountiful amount of
him in a field where lilacs like
to grow. I found so much of
him when I remembered the fire
You convince me that there is sweetness
under the dark tender of peaches and pears. I
think there is a hell here, too— in the
retching of being alive. And though I do not
go, Sunday remains my holy day. This time
last year, it was filling me, high watered and
drowning. It still reaches here, sometimes in
the quiet of the dark as I whisper:
For the last time, I’m sorry