Murder Escape
Stephanie Valente

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is there a scent that brings you back?
think of it like time travel: a memory or a door that closed long ago

maybe it’s a lingering spirit, or a dream that you let repeat
a memory drowning in oil, muddy on your skin

this musk is an old ghost,
a pungent, ugly-thing with raw hands
that tried to break your wrists in the shower

drown the smell with brown blood:
i never want to smell this lover again.