I NEED HELP BELIEVING I’M REALLY ONLY MYSELF

find me with each thing that took me by my hand: 
the pencil, the box of maple fudge, the chosen stone, 
the bird that i call bird, and the glass between us where i hang
more glass in the form of blue mountains, and there i am 
—caught in the breath of the view i desire.
find me with each being that took my hand, made my breath less breath; 
you carry the less of me like something to stand on—not me.
opposite the soil, i mist and dispel, greet each shape with a self from the inside out,
linger—heart here—mind over there—finger like a bird’s beak pointing at you.
let’s talk about the you-me according to the trees, according to the atoms. 
you eat my pain for breakfast: your desire my storm.
take some of my coffee and none of my island.
and i promise: when you’re not here
your children will be fed.

Yomalis Rosario (she/her) is a Black Dominican poet who was born and raised in Washington Heights, NYC. She is a graduate of the 2025 Brooklyn Poets Mentorship Program and serves as the Managing Editor for WE THE SOIL. You can find her poems in Epiphany Magazine, ROOM Magazine, & elsewhere.