by Rachyl Nyoka
Takeback Time
I don’t know how time works to deliver
disbelief. I don’t know how night becomes
the horror that it is—that they no longer
breathe on this land. I do know time offered
two teens eternity, having given them a plot
to drink alcohol & take—no, experiment w/
taking—away time w/ pain pills that were
not theirs. This plot is ongoing—experimental
& experiential for many upon this land. In time,
what I don’t know, you do, like removing drugs
from a cabinet, or taking a breath to deactivate
them in a special pouch—in time, water you add
will make them no longer what they were. Time
is memory-breath for mother who uses a word:
biodegradable. She explains w/ words: too late,
listen, ask for help. Mother says simple things
over time, but I don’t remember the images. We
both ask mother, take another breath—& one
after that. & many more, all for the both of us.
Jan Wiezorek writes from Michigan. His chapbook Forests of Woundedness is forthcoming from Seven Kitchens Press (2025). Wiezorek’s work has appeared, or is forthcoming, at The London Magazine, The Westchester Review, Lucky Jefferson, Red Ogre Review, Triggerfish Critical Review, and elsewhere. He taught writing at St. Augustine College, Chicago, and wrote the teachers’ ebook Awesome Art Projects That Spark Super Writing (Scholastic, 2011). His poetry has been awarded by the Poetry Society of Michigan and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Visit him at janwiezorek.substack.com.
Rachyl Nyoka (she/her) is a biracial Black poet, visual artist, and psychotherapist from San Diego, California. Rachyl uses expressive arts and the creative process both within her therapeutic work and as an exploration of the subconscious, liminality/voidspace, and archetypal symbolism. Her visual work has appeared in The Hopper Magazine. Rachyl currently lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband, son, and three cheeky felines. She can be found at www.rachylnyoka.art and @stingraee on Cara as well as www.clovepsychotherapy.com.