Summer-Fall '23
Deep Breaths
Brandon Shane
I suspect the screaming
is just flavorful conversation.
Floorboards ache while the
storm lays siege. I sit here
as vases are shattered &
lives are changed forever,
afraid of reticles placed on
me. The air is toxifying &
words are becoming graves
burying decades for good.
Migraine has come again,
calves electrify in cramps,
insects tunnel through old
wood & eyes are twitching
as if bursting from face.
I am still conscious as plates
become porcelain minefields,
blood seeps from under doors
all of them at once. I dream
about this being a dream &
the rage is just a mime.
Brandon Shane is a Japanese-American alum of California State University, Long Beach, where he majored in Literature. He's pursuing an MFA while working as a writing instructor and substitute teacher. When not at Del Mar, you can catch him at one of many ramen shops in San Diego. You can see his work in Acropolis Journal, Grim & Gilded, All Existing Magazine, Bitterleaf Books, Remington Review, Salmon Creek Journal, BarBar Literary Magazine, Discretionary Love, among others. Find him on Twitter @Ruishanewrites.