There’s no service in this attic—
yet phantom vibrations
make my heart skip a beat,
thinking you’ve finally reached out.
I pick up my phone and write you
another text:
the last time you saw me,
I had fire in my eyes.
Now there are merely embers.
My pupils, two worn-out wicks.
Message not delivered—
just like the last one that read:
With my madness
comes a mind’s eye—
you’ll forever be blind to.
No.
You, Rochester, are better off with
a plain Jane.
Footnote:
Inspired by Bertha Mason, the so-called “madwoman in the attic” from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
Arshi Mortuza is a Toronto-based poet who writes to heal. Through her work, she aims to spread awareness about mental health especially within the South Asian community. She became a published author through her poetry collection, One Minute Past Midnight (2022), and is currently working on her second manuscript, Pressed Flower.