the haunting

i went back to Norfolk to visit

our old apartment on the corner

i looked up at the window

half expecting to see our cats

peering down at me

i wonder if whoever lives there now

can feel our sadness

like a ghost

the infestation

our new dream house came with a few unpleasant surprises

mold in the cabinets

fleas in the carpet

and hoards of spiders

that crawled in to the house

when the nights grew cold

about the same time the white supremacists

posted my name, photo, and address online

encouraging their followers to harass me

for the crime of being a feminist

that fall every dark spot, every dust bunny became a black widow

every passing car the skin heads coming to make me pay

every morning spent trapping spiders in jars

checking for new threatening messages every 10 minutes, sometimes every 5

cooking breakfast with my laptop on on the counter, heart pounding

after awhile

I began to grow comfortable with my tormentors

appreciate them, even

the way that tarantula did not eat my toes when it joined me in the shower

how the nazi blacked out my 4 year old daughter's face in the picture he posted of us holding hands and smiling at the international street fair

how thoughtful, how kind

sometimes the spiders scrambled against the glass, frantic, as if they knew they were about to be thrown in to the chicken coop, eaten alive

the words my father said to me when I was afraid of any potentially dangerous creature as a child became my mantra

they're more afraid of you

than you are of them

they are more afraid of you

than you are of them

Devin Aeh Canary is a mom to two tiny humans, three pot belly pigs, and several free range chickens. She is the co-founder of Canary Acres Animal Sanctuary. She was awarded the ACLU's Courageous Advocate Award for creating and distributing an underground paper when she was in high school despite the administration's threats to expel her. She has been writing what she calls “renegade poetry” since she was a child, but just recently pulled her head out of her ass and started sharing her work with the world. Devin is a wannabe witch and she believes that words, spoken or written, can be magic spells. That they can alter someone's existence, for just a minute or for much longer. Poetry is powerful. Poetry is witchcraft. You can find her on Tumblr and Instagram @devincanary

#boneandink #vol6 #poetry #devinaehcanary #halloween #ghosts #spiders