Duplex (We dug holes deep enough to bury ourselves)
We dug holes deep enough to bury ourselves,
sand blooming dark beneath our neon shovels.
Our skin bloomed beneath the neon, darkening sun
& we danced, red-faced, away from the ocean,
away from our mother, red-faced at the table.
We never managed happy summer vacations.
Happy summer vacations were for families
who loved each other the way they should.
I loved my brother the way I should, always.
We were six & thirteen at the beach.
When you are six & thirteen, you don’t understand
why love sometimes burns, jellyfish-electric.
I wanted to save my brother from burning,
so we dug holes deep enough to bury ourselves.
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Noreen Ocampo (she/her) is a Filipina writer and poet based in metro Atlanta. Her work appears in {m}aganda magazine, Taco Bell Quarterly, and Hobart, among others, and she studies English, film, and media at Emory University. Say hello on Twitter @maybenoreen!
