A Literary Magazine
dogeeseseegod
in middle school i learn to comfort myself because no one else knows how to
Rose McCoy
after the first panic attack i learn how to breathe into my body instead of out of it / and i whisper “it’s okay, baby, it’s okay” to the grime of a bathroom stall / i hold my own hand down the hallways and feel no shame / in the evenings i leave my room to take a shower and light a candle for when i get back / and when i cut myself shaving i lean down with my lips / to the wound and ask my own forgiveness. / in the nights wrecked by memories / i tell myself the things other people don’t say and it sounds like “i love you / i’m sorry you went through that” / in middle school i learn what agony is / but it’s okay because i’m here—i’m here for me / and in a world where so few people can say that / i take what i can get
About the Author
Rose McCoy (she/her) is a writer, musician, and aspiring psychologist from Morgantown, West Virginia. She often writes on themes of love, loss, and other things that hit her in the heart. She has been published by Graphic Violence Lit, Free Spirit Publishing, Cathartic Youth Lit, and The Afterpast Review and has works upcoming with Ghost Girls Zine and Bullshit Lit. Her debut chapbook, Sink or Swim: Reflections on an Ending, was published through Bottlecap Press in April. When not writing, she can probably be found screaming into the void as she has an existential crisis. You can follow her on Twitter @24hrmccoy or visit her website at
