you put me on the floor
of my childhood room ripping
same scrap of paper
over and over
infinitely—smaller—halves
shred this not your insides
stacked stapled collated
feel the heft of unity defiled
finger its edges
every fault, you
confirm that you can hold
my battered wholeness
but will never put together again.
Olivia Pasquerella ’26 (oliviapasquerella@college.harvard.edu) is available for hire to shred your tax files.