FANZINE

Item:                            I couldn’t get to sleep last night.
Item:                            the weather is lovely today.
Item:                            I know I said my clavicle (that word again)
                            is made of candle wax. you told me
                            to be careful when opening
                            my shirt to the sun.
Item:                            a fantasy where
                            we pack a picnic
                            but eat none of the food.
Item:                            the man who doesn’t love easily
                            loves too much
Item:                            toenail, takeout wrapper, apology.
Item:                             my bed covered in oil. the fact
                            that you’ve never slept here means something
but I’m:                 too hungry to figure it out .
                            the kitchen is also covered in oil.
Item:                            the eucalyptus leaf
                            taped to the perfume bottle
                            makes a nice sculpture but
is it too
heavy-handed:     (Obsession bound to nature)?
Item:                            hair bleach is a small price to pay
                            for a whole new
                            personality.
Item:                            why do you perform?
Item:                            I always sweat in therapy.
Item:                            I watched you fling your clothes
                             across the room like this.
                            I watched you become a sheet.
                            your body in the window.
I felt:                          you watching me. writhing
                            on the dirty floor,
                             becoming sheet.
                            my body
                             in the window.
Item:                            heavy
Item:                            finding the source of the sadness
                            is a nightly activity,
                            like washing.

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_{Jack Meriwether is a poet and performance artist from Ohio currently living and working in New York City. Their writing has most recently been featured in Deluge, Bad Pony (both forthcoming), Leste Magazine, Dum Dum Zine, and The Dandelion Review. Their work focuses on queer longing and identity, which they incorporate into their movement-based performance work. Jack’s chapbook Dear Husband is available for digital download at jackmeriwether.com.}