"If I put a gun to your head, how many bowls of pasta could you eat right now (sauce, garnish, gristmill included). Comrade, you think too highly of yourself..."
All three of these are doing something genuinely different, but the third one hit hardest. That move from the pasta contest to the IUD settling in to the friend-hitting-as-resolution is the kind of associative logic that feels earned rather than random, like the speaker's psyche is actually working through something while the poem ostensibly doesn't care. The Kerouac tattoos are a brilliant running gag and also a kind of indictment. "Good thing he had six" is such a perfect closer. Really grateful for Claire Lee being in the world.
Jesus Christ these are good
Hell yeah. Thanks for finding them. We are so damn proud to have them in the mag.
Incredible 💕
Intense. Especially "the IUD settling in like a parasite." That's perfect.
All three of these are doing something genuinely different, but the third one hit hardest. That move from the pasta contest to the IUD settling in to the friend-hitting-as-resolution is the kind of associative logic that feels earned rather than random, like the speaker's psyche is actually working through something while the poem ostensibly doesn't care. The Kerouac tattoos are a brilliant running gag and also a kind of indictment. "Good thing he had six" is such a perfect closer. Really grateful for Claire Lee being in the world.