Wait no I haven’t—
I haven’t seen anyone because the forests are on fire and I have asthma
I’m allergic to grass, to pavement, to microplastics, to being perceived,
to most plants, to all animals, to my own fear, to the future, to my phone, to your phone
I collect mental illnesses like dead bugs, I show my collection to strangers,
I am very much part of my generation
Our minds are never great. They are not even good.
We never meet anyone. We never touch grass.
We couldn’t recognize a boxcar if we were lying on the tracks watching it come toward us.
—Asa Delaney
Asa Delaney’s recent work can also be found in Strange Horizons, Small Wonders, and Apparition Lit.