sally burnette
sally burnette is the author of two chapbooks: laughing plastic (Broken Sleep Books) and Special Ultimate: Baby's Story: a Documentary (Ghost City Press). They grew up in North Carolina but now live in Boston. They read flash fiction for Split Lip Magazine.
"trash"
for M
you moved your shit in
with a black trash bag
a nurse plopped it by my bed & i
fucked up on klonopin
wanted to get up but couldn’t
or could get up & did
but didn’t want to
didn’t want to meet
the newest intruder
another person to lose later
to hide from
or betray
& i noticed on top
of the pile in the bag was
a photo of your family
wearing matching outfits
carmine collared shirts i think
i think i told you i had
family in athens too
atlanta actually
close enough
or maybe i just told you
in my head
i wanted that connection
even for a second
even if it was a lie
i still think about the trash bag
bulky with the things you were
allowed to keep the
soft razorless things
a glassless bottle
inspected letters
name-brand tampons
scraps of your life before
before you went away
for M
you moved your shit in
with a black trash bag
a nurse plopped it by my bed & i
fucked up on klonopin
wanted to get up but couldn’t
or could get up & did
but didn’t want to
didn’t want to meet
the newest intruder
another person to lose later
to hide from
or betray
& i noticed on top
of the pile in the bag was
a photo of your family
wearing matching outfits
carmine collared shirts i think
i think i told you i had
family in athens too
atlanta actually
close enough
or maybe i just told you
in my head
i wanted that connection
even for a second
even if it was a lie
i still think about the trash bag
bulky with the things you were
allowed to keep the
soft razorless things
a glassless bottle
inspected letters
name-brand tampons
scraps of your life before
before you went away