if statements

what if the soft spot sinks, the French press we bought for the friends who never came burns the dark roast on the stove, the skin breaks, or worse, the rubber, Google starts answering our hysteria with a single smirk emoji, the translation is wrong, the numbers lie, thirty-eight plus thirteen weeks is not long enough to learn you, it's always already 8 a.m., the microbes on the doorknob, the cat’s hair, the rodent dust from the crawl space infiltrate, the blooming magnolias rot the new plank siding, the yellow caution tape extends past the children’s swing set, it rains for over forty days, four years becomes forever, the epidural is irreversible, our peeling fingers forget sex, sorry is better than safe, the question is the only punctuation, provides no room for protection, the water boils to an empty house?

​if i am sorry
promise me your first words are
no apology

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Born and raised on the east side of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, Charity E. Yoro resides on the traditional territory of the Atfalati, Clatskanie, and Kalapuya (Oregon) with her partner, daughter, and feisty feline guide named Rumi. Her work can be found in PRISM International, Ruminate Magazine, Fourteen Hills, New York Times’ Modern Love, and others. She is currently pursuing her MFA at Portland State University.

Art: Creative Commons