That year I was a grape. I didn't realize until later
when I started to shrivel and blacken.
Then, I got a clue. Of course! Grape, raisin...
but I never could remember that earlier time,
when I was a flower.
I know it must have happened.
Now I am a violin and, in certain moods,
a fiddle. The evolution was...painful.
I do spend a lot of time these days
closed up in the dark.
It comforts me
when the latch clicks shut.
Kyla Houbolt (she, her) occupies Catawba territory in Gastonia, NC. Her first two chapbooks, Dawn's Fool and Tuned were published in 2020. More about them on her website, https://www.kylahoubolt.com/ Her individually published pieces online can be found on her Linktree. She is on Twitter @luaz_poet.