by Raphaela Pavlakos

consider the possibility

of having an empty room to curl up against the floorboards

on days where the refrigerator hums too loud

and the roll of the bus over provincial roads

makes you nearly vomit across three cities

the thought of having a safe place to cry, scream

brings me peace, dilutes the fear

as i trace the shape of your name three times

with the pads of my fingers; i roll the consonants

over my tongue like a stone

and slow my heart with thoughts of yellow

like a ritual for quietude

Raphaela Pavlakos is a 4th-year PhD candidate in McMaster University’s English and Cultural Studies department and a poet. Raphaela’s poetry can be found in Ekphrastic Review, Folklore Review, Talon Review, Taj Mahal Review, Word Hoard, Sanctuary: A Cootes Paradise Anthology, and graduate journals like The Lamp. She co-authored a self-published poetry collection called Mythopoesis in 2022 with Georgia Perdikoulias, which is available through Kindle Direct Publishing.