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The Great Flood – Clara McCormick

The skyscrapers skin the blissful blue out of the cityscape 

and I try to escape the looming cloud raining red droplets. 

Stiff in the precipitation, I run towards you–towards nothing. 

The edges of the buildings are as sharp as my banter 

when I first laid my eyes on you in the crystal snow. 

The heavens stain my white dress, as if I spilled red wine. 

Maroon snakeskin boots don’t bode well in the monsoon, 

so the heel cracks like a stabbed back. 

Pedestrians poke their heads 

out of shattered windows, whispering about the mess 

my life possesses in the shadows of the city. 

None offer me sympathy or shelter, so I hobble towards your home. 

The color red runs deep through your driveway, like a marathon, 

I stagger my steps. As I approach your padlocked front door, 

I hear hammering through your thin walls and wastedly wonder 

Are you building an ark to save me from the storm? 

My bleeding heels sink into your soggy dormant 

until I sink alongside it, choking on red runoff– 

I drowned knocking on heaven’s door.

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