In Other Words, Hold My Hand

By Natasha Ramoutar

Shinji: But where is my reality?
Rei: It is at the end of your dream.
—The End of Evangelion (1997)

The me in me / has always loved / the you in me / and the
you in you / it’s hard to tell / when the you in you / is
shrouded in humidity / most days, the me in me / isn’t
fond / of the me in me / it’s hard to love I / from every
angle / when your mouth is full of pebbles / and your ears
/ full of rainwater / but the you in me / I can always see
you / which isn’t to say / I know / you / or the you in you
/ or even the you in me / but that the weather vane / spins
freely in the wind / that when a pebble drops from your
mouth / I sit on the roof / watch the ripples / wait for the
rain / love / in the eye of the storm

Natasha Ramoutar

is a writer of Indo-Guyanese descent from Toronto. Her debut poetry collection Bittersweet was published in 2020 by Mawenzi House and she was a co-editor of Feel Ways, an anthology of Scarborough writing. Her second poetry collection, It Keeps Us Here, will be released by Wolsak & Wynn in 2024.