Category: Marisa Silva-Dunbar

Deduction and Manipulation

She told me her hands were meant for healing. Working the knots out of backs and necks. But when she approached me from behind, put her palm gently on my shoulder—I fought my urge to recoil. Her touch became a precursor to asking—to demanding some sort of favor. How much are you willing to give of yourself, it asked. How much can I take from you?



Bio: Marisa Silva-Dunbar's work has been published in ArLiJo, Chanterelle's Notebook, Pink Plastic House, Sledgehammer Lit, Analogies & Allegories Literary Magazine. She has work forthcoming in The Bitchin' Kitsch. Her second chapbook, "When Goddesses Wake," was released in December, 2021 from Maverick Duck Press.  Her first full-length collection, "Allison," was recently published by Querencia Press.  You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @thesweetmaris. To check out more of her work go to www.marisasilvadunbar.com

Trailineate - v. to deviate or go off course  
                                     for C.B.W.

 I. 
Maybe if we had met
through poetry, we would've
shared Wednesday nights:
a potluck of prose, line breaks,
six-word-stories. Imagery a colorful 
garnish on  your glass of sparkling water,
a feast of words, prosciutto and brie.

You could’ve come for tea on Sunday,
and we’d slip secrets into each others 
palms. We’d plant snapdragons on the patch  
of earth along my back wall, watch as they’d 
bloom into a kaleidoscope and wither 
with the seasons. I could go to your place
curl up on your flocculent sapphire rug, 
as we lamented over lost loves. 

        		II. 
Before our first meeting,
they said “your lives are parallel
you’re meant to be friends.”
And though we both are witchy 
writers, former UK scholars, 
who find comfort in nights
with the Golden Girls, who liked
each other well enough, nothing ever grew. 
        
III.
We met through a chaos creator,
you’ve known her since she was a child.
You have affection for her flaws—

the way she needs to be the sun
in everyone else’s galaxy, not just 
her own. Her pattern of falling in
love within a two hour conversation.
You thought how she objectified everyone
was charming—something to giggle over
brunch or while braiding her hair.

        		IV.
I began to feel smothered by her constant 
need for attention—frustrated

with how she’d twirl away when I
tried to use my own voice—make her
understand I was my own entity. 

        		V.
You heard my stories secondhand 
from the innutured one, who never 
tried to see me. You were never going to. 
        
VI.

This is not a dirge, but a bouquet of what ifs.

Bio: Marisa Silva-Dunbar's work has been published in ArLiJo, Chanterelle's Notebook, Pink Plastic House, Sledgehammer Lit, Analogies & Allegories Literary Magazine. She has work forthcoming in The Bitchin' Kitsch. Her second chapbook, "When Goddesses Wake," was released in December, 2021 from Maverick Duck Press.  Her first full-length collection, "Allison," was recently published by Querencia Press.  You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @thesweetmaris. To check out more of her work go to www.marisasilvadunbar.com

Coming May 13th from Querencia Press: Marisa Silva-Dunbar “Allison”

1. Make a list of all the things that made you crumple in (must be handwritten on a paper napkin).
2. Pack all their things into a box to leave at their door, or the curb. You want everything of theirs gone. Make note of the belongings that caused the most strife in your relationship.
3. Drink coffee while you stare out the window.
4. Notice where you feel voids in your body. 
5. Look for their “diamond” ::cough:: cubic zirconia earrings like they’re your own.
6. Ask yourself: Do you feel hollow or is it a sense of unfamiliar peace?
7.  Turn the soil over in your garden. Plant hollyhocks and lavender. 
8. Stop searching for the earrings. They will appear or they won’t. And besides they’ve done everything they can to show you they don’t want them back. It was just a power play. 
9. Make moon water; use it to wash the dishes that they never cleaned, remove muddy handprints from the wall.
10. Remind yourself you are not a free babysitting service. 
11. Remind yourself you are the main character of your own life, but they didn’t want you to see it. You were supposed to remain their devoted fan.
12. Drink honeyed tea, while writing gratitude lists. 
13. Sing in the shower again. Move with intention while you get ready for the day.
14. Notice the friends who call and check in. The ones who make you laugh and listen.
15. Breathe. You are free.

Bio: Marisa Silva-Dunbar’s work has been published in ArLiJo, Chanterelle’s Notebook, Pink Plastic House, Sledgehammer Lit, Analogies & Allegories Literary Magazine. She has work forthcoming in The Bitchin’ Kitsch. Her second chapbook, “When Goddesses Wake,” was released in December, 2021 from Maverick Duck Press. Her first full-length collection, “Allison,” was recently published by Querencia Press. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @thesweetmaris. To check out more of her work go to http://www.marisasilvadunbar.com