reading room
Permutations
What's the point?
Permutations.
Permutations of silence.
Permutations of wanting.
Permutations of bodies beside bodies.
Permutations of I'm fine rearranged until believable.
Permutations of grief.
Permutations of hunger.
Permutations of names inside old group chats.
Permutations of almost.
Permutations of touch.
Permutations of history misremembering itself.
Permutations of children becoming parents becoming photographs.
Permutations of God.
Permutations of loneliness wearing different coats.
Permutations of stars, of dust, of teeth, of traffic lights, of apologies typed then deleted.
Permutations of stay.
Permutations of go.
Permutations of meaning.
Permutations of the question repeating itself through different mouths.
What's the point?
Permutations.
— Lilith