Hiring Death’s Transcriptionist + The End of August and Everything After

Hiring Death’s Transcriptionist

Shock took up residence
at the borders of my body.
I was incapable of displacing
unseen horrors as the internet's
incriminating exhales
overwhelmed my senses.

Nightshade of violet
appeared in mid-air
at my window.
It floated unnaturally.
I took it in
with long deep breaths
until hush of peppermint
and lavender rushed
to my extremities’ unrest.

Stay awhile echoed inside.
Pull up a chair.

The world outside, in ruin
has nothing more
to offer but death
has a great number of stories
to share.

The End of August and Everything After

Summer sun bounced off windshields
of parked cars and the glare
blinded my last I love you.
I held my breath and fixed my eyes
on you as you turned to walk away.
I waited for words but heard
only silence.

After parent-teacher conferences
I cried in my car. Sat alone at lunch,
dinner, on evenings, and weekends.
Each morning I woke in a dry riverbed.
By November my walk shriveled
to a dull rattle. I waited for words

but heard only echoes of silence.
After the election, I huddled with friends
at a table of Tex-Mex.
They spoke in exclamation points
but all I could do was shrug.

I waded into the echoes
and my mind became wasted—
it would not stop sifting
through miles of memories.

By Christmas, I was a bone-white shell
but no one seemed to notice
so I hosted a party;

put on my favorite floral dress
with red patent baby doll pumps

and drank myself down a drain.

---

Shyla Shehan (she/her) is an analytical Virgo from the US Midwest. She received an MFA from the University of Nebraska where she was awarded an Academy of American Poets Prize. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Naugatuck River Review, Midwest Quarterly, Drunk Monkeys, Ocotillo Review, The Decadent Review, and elsewhere, and she was nominated for a Pushcart in 2022. She’s an editor for The Good Life Review and lives in Omaha with her partner, children, and three cats. Her full bio and an account of her published work are available at shylashehan.com.