Scene

Scene

Alla Vilnyansky

In my dream
there was a body
several bodies
one body with a tag on the feet

It was cold
someone was teaching me how to place a tag
on the body
the first big toe

Your father is at the Doctor’s office
They said he will be back tomorrow
Daddy, where are you?

I am scared to call

There is a man asleep perpetually on our floor

They programmed me a lot of bad things

I could write a book, I just

But not like Derrida

Being a male is harder

Separating the girl in the room
from the man who is pointing the gun to her head

The girl in the room
With the gun pointed at her head is screaming

I am having trouble seeing
The victim and the assassin because
It’s all part of the same shot
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Alla Vilnyansky was born in the Ukraine and came to the US with her family as a refugee in 1989. She completed an MA from Miami University and is now working on an MFA from Columbia University.