High School Crush
This crush is pink lemonade You’re a jar of maraschino cherries
burst in my fist a cloud in the sky full of as many
unfulfilling promises as a homemade ice cream maker
Each glance: eyes lips face makes me feel like
a room with all the lights on I confess to my friend about
you over overpriced tacos and $4 fancy-bottled Coca-Cola
She gives me kind advice I will never follow I borrow my
mother’s red lipstick because I think you will notice me more
when I wear it I paint it on my lips becoming a cherry
bomb
My way of flirting is asking you what the homework is for
today
My heart is full of the Fourth of July when I write my phone
number on a torn piece of paper
When I give it to you three weeks later,
tell me love isn’t just waiting.
Self-Portrait Using a Negative Pregnancy Test as a Microphone
I sing at the top of my lungs the national anthem of vaginal joy
My voice a burst of neon
What’s more punk than belting into a microphone you peed on?
My uterus hits Mariah Carey high notes
And I dance like the Fourth of July exploded
Limbs candy coming out of a piñata
When the concert is over
I get a standing ovation from tampons
***
Author photo by Jody Early
