three wishes

we are catatonic
ghost bodies in a misshapen triangle
ley lines in the zoomed in google earth
map of suburban Iowa
hatched and cross-stitched and sewn together
but tall enough that limbs dangle over the edges like loose thread

all good things come in threes
fairytales and selves and pastfuturepresent
we do not always have the willpower to
flex our feet and push ourselves
deadweight
to a half-standing position
we do not have the energy to pull the
door closed behind us as we walk away

we are simply too numb to be angered
and too weary for the need to have the last word
we know we are complete
omne trium perfectum
that we will wake up in the same formation on Tuesday
biblical omnipotence
we will save our strength
we will make a garden in the
inner portion of our enclosement
and soon we will wake up to pansies in our eyes
and no view of each other’s sleeping figures across the grass

slow growth will ensue
but there is a rapid cadence of days in which
we walk through the sun holding each other close
unafraid of sweat
it can be collected in the watering cans
it is important to expel the body’s toxins
and there may be soil in my stomach instead of intestines
reversal of processes
and orange juice as rain

the seasons are switching hemispheres and
the wind is blowing straight up
taking us with it
angels
tied to the earth by weeds
paperweights for holding our ground

Amanda Pendley is a twenty-year-old writer from Kansas City who is currently studying Creative Writing and Publishing at the University of Iowa. She has previously worked as an editor for award winning teen literary magazine Elementia, and as the Nonfiction Editor of Ink Lit Mag. She is currently the Editor-in -Chief of Ink Lit Mag. Her work has appeared in publications of Ramona Magazine, Crêpe and Penn Literary Magazine, Outrageous Fortune Magazine, and many others.