Unfinished Exit — Claudia Wysocky

I keep thinking about the time in high school 
when you drew 
me 
a map of the city, 
I still have it somewhere. 
It was so easy 
to get lost 
in a place where all the trees 
look the same. 
And now 
every time I see 
a missing person's poster 
stapled to a pole, 
all I can think is 
that could have been me. 
Missing, 
disappeared. 

But there are no
posters for people 
who just never came back 
from vacation, from college, 
from life.
You haven't killed yourself 
because you'd have to commit to a 
single exit.
What you wouldn't give to be your cousin Catherine,
who you watched 
twice in one weekend get strangled nude 
in a bathtub onstage
by the actor who once 
filled your mouth with quarters at 
your mother's funeral.
The curtains closed and opened again. 
We applauded until 
our hands were sore.

But you couldn't shake the image of 
her lifeless body,
the way she hung there like a 
marionette with cut strings.
And now every time you try to write a poem, 
it feels like a 
eulogy.

---

Claudia Wysocky, a Polish writer and poet based in New York, is known for her diverse literary creations, including fiction and poetry. Her poems, such as "Stargazing Love" and "Heaven and Hell," reflect her ability to capture the beauty of life through rich descriptions. Besides poetry, she authored All Up in Smoke, published by Anxiety Press. With over five years of writing experience, Claudia's work has been featured in local newspapers, magazines, and even literary journals like WordCityLit and Lothlorien Poetry Journal. Her writing is powered by her belief in art's potential to inspire positive change. Claudia also shares her personal journey and love for writing on her own blog, and she expresses her literary talent as an immigrant raised in post-communism Poland.