Where do you store dangerous information?
Naomi Tercero
You can’t store it in your body
or it’ll catch on an artery and fester.
Maybe if I took a knife to it…
Cut through the layers
upon layers
of skin
(call it “exploratory surgery”)
and bleed out looking for it
all over my brand new fuzzy white carpet.
I would just need to dig around in the dirt of my thighs
stomach
Around the vessels and in-between tissue
clawing at it
screaming
with my fingers.
Skin beneath my nails
they were perfect.
Tinged a deep mahogany.
Maybe it’s nestled somewhere next to my
other quiet desires.
I’ve pulled myself apart
so many times—
what’s one more?
Once you’ve got it
take it out,
bury it,
burn it,
hide it.
Turn it over in your hands,
that love,
that possessing love.
Poetry – Where do you store dangerous information?
Naomi Tercero
Naomi Tercero writes to remember, to imagine, and to make sense of what lingers. She is a student of Journalism and Media at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where she explores poetry, creative nonfiction, short fiction, and journalism. Her work has been featured on KRUX radio’s blog and in many local community writing showcases.