"Bin Bag Human"

Breath & Shadow

Spring 2019 - Vol. 16, Issue 2

"Bin Bag Human"

written by

M. Loraine Nunnally

I’m a stranger in this city.

Up and down the sidewalks,

All the smiling postcard faces

Gather in cafe windows,

Shining their fireplace hearts.

But I’m a paper doll.

A rickety robot.

A heaving bag of bees.

I can’t touch them.

What good is it to live

in a clean city

When I exhale poison?

Someone ought to tie me up,

And leave me in the city dump

With the other bin bags,

For vultures to devour.

M. Loraine Nunnally battles with social anxiety as well as panic attack disorder. She works as a librarian’s assistant in Buena Vista, Virginia. When not working, she spends time with her family in her hometown of Dallas, Georgia.