The First Change Poem by SarahEllen Swinburne

</>We used to sit on radiators and laugh.
Heads thrown back, not caring that
Everyone could see my black fillings
And crooked teeth.
Loose-limbed, lazy, brazen, bare.

Cackling now, we are louder
Though there is less to laugh at.
This roar leaves my heart on a precipice.
I curl my toes in my shoes. This is
Not funny.

Today, when I am amused, I cover my mouth.
Stare at the ground.
Laughing only with my shoulders.