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digest -- poetry by Nikhita Makam

Words have never satiated me

so I tear the pages out of the thesaurus

I let the synonyms synergize my sins

and the antonyms antagonize my anomalies

And at night I crawl under the covers

and the words crawl under my corium

they settle in the crevices of my flesh

and inhabit my integument

the words lying under my face

bring out the under lying fears I can’t face

the bile rises in my throat

and foggy memories rise in my mind

As a toddler I’d hold my father’s hand

when I was scared of

the monster hiding under my bed

As a child I’d hold myself

when I was hiding under the bed

scared of my father’s hand

I rack the medicine cabinet

and search the racks for

allergy pills to free up my chest

and for sleeping pills

to free up my mind

and so then I do not eat because

my friends do not eat because

pretty girls do not eat because

to be skinny is to be pretty

your stomach should be full of air

but my stomach is full of words

into my system they have found a way

and as much as I try

i cannot digest what you say.




 

Nikhita Makam is 16 years old, too young to know much but too old to get away with things. She is author of 14 works by a 14 year old and calls herself a "high school student by day, poet by night." Her works have been published in national newspapers and international journals. She believes that poetry has power, something that her mother taught her. She finds happiness in reading, writing, gardening, octopuses, and wondering about ladybugs. She tries her best to maintain a balance between all of her hobbies, school and the common dreaded enemy to all high school students- homework.

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