0DE 2 02 (A Mirrored Self Portrait)
0DE 2 02 (A Mirrored Self Portrait)
By Celia Rose
I.
Crave the caress/Not the caresser
Intimacy is an object/Like life
Or homicide/Like a stomach virus
& Cyanide/& depression
Want tap/& tousle
Want skin/& skim
Want soul/& slim
Not only firm like tofu/But soft like cement
And thinner than/A transparent tortilla
Oh you always want more/& much
You build temple fever/Like you build your splintered
KLIMPEN desk from the/depths of the AS-IS section of IKEA
With the split instruction pamphlet/Upside down
And your skull/Twisted behind your arms
Squid ink licorice flesh/Twirling like
Soiled toilet water down/The choking drain
Down the pipes/Flowing into the sewer creek
And atop the head/Of a cottonmouthed
Rat with matted/Fur.
Celia no longer flushes/Her floss down the drain
As she worries she will strangle/A starving rodent.
Celia no longer begs/to be cuddled by jesters
& Beetles/Celia no longer lies about her
Birthday unless she is running/From the
Grasp of the Grim Reaper’s/Knuckles
“No sir, I am not/Old enough to die yet.
I was born in ‘04/Not ‘02,
God wrote my date in/Wrong.
He was in a/Rush the day
My mama popped me/Out her belly
Like I was puss/Or a biscuit out the oven.”
II.
}Caelia requests
Our Lord Dionysus.
Caelia wants
thick, tender curls creeping
Between the webs of her fingers.
Caelia needs
The 12th Olympian’s Heart
Beating between her
Thighs.{
O Caelia,
You once lusted after
The Prince of Denmark
Caelia
=
The Newborn King Claudius
Praying for his mercy
Like a child screeching
Through their scorching, invisible
Tears in the midst of a fit
At the cash register as they begged
To dye their saliva a bright, thick blue
With the
as you bathed in the brook
While
O/Phaelia
Boiled in the stew of
Splintered wood,
Willow branches like
Brown, shredded cheese
Miniature, leaping frogs
With a slick skin reminiscent of
Virgin olive oil—
III.
Oh Celia!!
Do you remember
When we stuck up
That 7-11 the night before
Thxgiving? LMFAOOOO.
The look on that guys face
He was like:
:0!
Pricele.ss
Priceless*
When you pulled out that
.38 for all the money
In the register &
We only made
$1278.97?
So fcking irritating.
We legit did all that
FOR FUCKING NOTHING!!!
WE CSNT EVEN PAY
A THRID OF OUR
RENT WITH THAT!!!!
>ik it’s so annoying
Lol. i can’t believe we
Didn’t get caught.
But at least we got it<
What did you buy w
your half of the $ ??
>what the fuck do u think
I bought bitch?!<
>She sends me a picture
Of her holding multiple
Bags with different brand names
Scribbled all over the
Varied, crumpled wrappings
Of the plastic and paper protecting
Whatever bullshit was underneath.
She was smiling wide
Her pearl teeth illuminated
Under, her soft, balmy
Pink and brown lips
Spreading their thick walls.<
BS!!! Clearly.
Just kidding.
How much did you spend
>most of it. anything
else not pictured
was ingested and
shat out or
sitting in a drawer.
;)<