The Number You Have Dialed Is No Longer In Service – Michelle Brooks

Since you’ve been gone,
it feels like a Monday after
a long holiday, all stale
coffee and jammed printers.
The mail is junk and bills,
and it’s always leftovers for
dinner. I don’t feel lonely.
I don’t feel much of anything
except that the carnival has
left town for good, like it never
happened. Your body became
ash, blowing into my eyes
as I scattered your remains.
My vision blurs with their grit,
and all my tears only make it worse.
Michelle Brooks has published a collection of poetry, Make Yourself Small, (Backwaters Press), and a novella, Dead Girl, Live Boy, (Storylandia Press). Her poetry collection, Pretty in A Hard Way, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2019. Her collection, The Pretend Life, was published by Atmosphere Press in February 2020. A native Texan, she has spent much of her adult life in Detroit.