Multiverse theory by Jasmina Kuenzli
for every choice, there is a universe where you made a different choice.
I’m driving alone, and the sun is in my eyes,
And it’s so loud inside my head
So loud, I just want quiet
I just want to run out of this car until I hear nothing
But the harsh sound of my own breathing
I whisper your name to myself
A question—
A sudden cloud turns the world gray
I whisper your name
And I can almost feel you materialize
Like you never walked away
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
An angel brushes her wings against my face,
The caress of the space-time continuum
You’re in this bed, your breath against my cheek.
You smile into my hair
Your fingers trace the edge of my thigh,
The pages of a storybook
Your hair is soft and short
Zinging against my hands
I breathe you in,
And you never were anything but mine
These universes, a near infinite number, exist side by side, simultaneously.
I press my face up
Against the aquarium glass
I breathe you in
And I try to touch the outline of your hand
I am drowning
I say it silently, with my eyes wide open
I am falling over and over again
I scream it with my mouth shut
Please, please
I beat the glass, turning my fists bloody
Please take me home

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Jasmina Kuenzli is an author of poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. When Jasmina isn’t writing, she enjoys weightlifting, dancing, and trying to figure out how to be adopted by Dwayne the Rock Johnson. She would like to thank Brenna and Sarah, who hear these stories first, and Harry Styles, who is sunshine distilled in a human being.

