I’m walking a balancing beam
soles turned out,
duck-footed with poise.
Teetering the edge of conviction,
between my grandmother and mother.
The only difference:
I see the horror.
Maybe they do too.
I don’t know.
But—I know,
ancestral sin refurbished,
uninvited bite-marks in the wires.
Chiseled down by its feral doctrine.
Lackadaisical malady.
I pulled a hangnail of wallpaper,
that defended its -black mold,
exposing malignant craters
freckled with an infectious spoor of
unconsciousness.
That’s when my divergence declared itself:
with clairvoyance.
A raging Mallen streak,
a clogged pore,
stuffed with golf tees,
toothpicks,
wooden dowels.
Or
I will continue
to waddle and quack
on the edge
of my senses.
About the Creator
Natasha Collazo
Selected Writer in Residency, Champagne France ---2026
The Diary of an emo Latina OUT NOW
https://a.co/d/0jYT7RR
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Poetry Workshop
Previously, I published my first ever exclusive story on Vocal. If you’ve subscribed to my work, then you have access to it. Thank YOU for your support. I hope to make each read worth your while. So with that, I’ll be posting insights for exclusive readers only, such as a workshop on my craft. The hows and who’s of my stories. Pretty much revealing my secrets on how I write with you. So welcome fam, and let’s get started!
By Natasha CollazoExclusive • about a year ago
A Failed Artist, A Disillusioned Poet, An Underpaid Game Show Host
I took my son and niece to Gori, a small town in Georgia where Joseph Stalin was born. They talked me into visiting the Stalin's Museum, the largest in the post-Soviet space. I had resisted going there because I just can't stand the monster and know enough about him, or so I thought.
By Lana V Lynx7 days ago in FYI
Comments (3)
Stunning work Natasha! 💪🏾Very poignant! 🌸
Oooo, I had to Google Mallen streak. Loved your poem!
Sense is not all it's quacked up to be. I know, that's such a pore attempt at humor, it really tees me off I can't do better. Aren't you glad they broke the mold after they made me? Don't worry, it's neither catchy nor infectious.