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Camp Fire

the beast in me cries
Poetry
Cielo Rodriguez

i wrote and hit post / letters into words cut apart and shoved back into more letters / where the beast in me cried / she weeped for weeks on end / the room left empty but still haunted / back in february i had more than one ghost living in my apartment / it wasn’t much of a change / i had a dream where you dragged me out / by my crooked teeth and bitten nails / where the doorway smelled of peach and the burning edges of my sage stick / window open for the darkness to go out / only to seep back in through the picked locks / left bitter and fingers burned / oh but i saw your mirage / fuck, i thought maybe you were dead / but that beast! oh how / she stomped with her boots / on the linoleum with her head tall / walking past all the goldfish / still swimming around in circles in the bowl / the beast in me / eats girls like you for breakfast / those were the days where i hoped you saw her / who was too loud and stood up for herself / label me with words / tell your family whatever you want / shame on the summer child who grows / more and more each year / you’re right, i’m not one for temporary stays / “once i’m in, i’m all in,” / i said this to the earthly boy / who i know drinks a little too much / he reminds me of my father / i only see the bad parts in him now /maybe i just like a challenge / you weren’t that, though / you are burning embers in a cold fire / once the half heart began to smolder / but i assume it’s been all smoked out after that / i passed by your ghost / i can’t see her as clearly / without the rose tinted glasses / you don’t haunt me like that anymore / the beast in me no longer cries / the summer child is the willow by the lake / autumn may come and go as she pleases / but roots only grow deeper / the more that they’re watered / you wouldn’t want to see me now / summer’s on it’s way / and i’m even brighter than before.

Cielo Rodriguez is a writer, student, and current Editor in Chief for The Round Up at NMSU. She is entering her final year studying at New Mexico State University for her Undergraduate degree and is majoring in Journalism and Mass Communications and Political Science. She has been writing since she was about ten years old and has never stopped since. Cielo enjoys writing creatively and enjoys covering tough news stories and pursuing the truth in everything she reports on, as well as within her own poetry.

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