Exit Strategy

She dines on wild carrots knowing
bishop’s lace and poison hemlock
are easily confused. So are daffodil
bulbs and wild onions.

She dips her toothpick in Roban
every day for a week when feeling
particularly grateful or fearful or full
of extraterrestrial mirth.

She tweezes every last strand of hair
on her head before stepping out for a
stroll across the Gangetic plains, ears
perked for a distinct screech.

She complies with her mum’s advice
to drink more water a tad too zestfully
and cannot wait for her body to be rid
completely of all the toxins.

She knows too much of death as she
knows too much of life and so in the
mind of a girl who seeks immortality
and eternal liberty from an exhausting
circle of life this is a win-win.

Photo by Guillaume Lobet on Unsplash