The days are packed
not like sardines. Like pennies rolled
tight. Ends folded
precise, insides adding up to what?
I wish for you
a more simple life.
For the necessity of washing fruit
to be all you need to radicalize you.
I’ve straddled the threshold
my whole life and I suppose I’m lucky
to never be fully committed to anything
except feeling out of place.
So something from within compels me
to fight for change
to slow down time
to space out these days
to unroll a carpet
for us to walk on
shoes off first
hair down next
no more math
just instinct.
May it turn to radiant joy
as frost sparkles in the morning sun.
May it coax undeniable belly laughs
up the trail from our guts to our tongues.
May we forget what we do not need.
May we forgive the space
for aching inside of us.
The Turn Around
We are so busy working
We don’t have time for love
I am losing the drive
to feed this economy
What if instead of money
we valued care?
And instead of work
we just loved?
What if we lived for love?
Would our flags get smaller?
Would our speeches become more poetic?
Would we dance without thinking so hard?
Would you stay in love with me forever?
Could we do it on the rooftop
and pay no mind?
Would the neighbors turn up their music
and propose a toast
to our love
to the rebirth of living
to the death of capitalism
to their favorite food
to a whatever they want
without having to watch the clock
for when the fun ends and the work begins?
What if we built our lives around
what we enjoy?
Say you’ll make the time
Tell me you’ll do what you can
I know it won’t be easy
I can smell the war coming but
I still think we can turn this around
Rhea Melina (she/her) is a multi-ethnic poet, birth-worker, parent, herbalist, educator, and hopeful romantic. Her chapbooks include a place to put things (Bottlecap Press, 2023), Not My Wasteland (Bone Machine, 2024), and Ballard Coyote (Scumbag Press, forthcoming, 2025). Her poems have been published by Elizabeth Ellen’s Hobart, Gnashing Teeth, Hare’s Paw Journal, Fiilthy Glo, Text Power Telling, and Papers Pub, among others, and her poem “Faith,” calling for a free Palestine, was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She believes that all illegal occupations and wars should cease and refuses to settle for less. found confetti is her first full-length collection and is available now from Carbonation Press and www.antiquatedfuture.com. You can find her on instagram @rheamelina.
