Reading · A Poem Is A Place

Last week, I announced my poetry collection, Portrait of a Person Who Pushes Love Away in Fear of Losing It (which is on sale right now for pre-order at bookshop.org), and told you about the First Big Doc where I did the First Big Split—and that’s how I got Portrait and Good Girl and Other Yearnings.

Refer a friend

It’s also when I decided to write the chapbook of love poems for the zodiac, Sex Is from Mars but I Love You from Venus. One love poem for each Venus placement (Venus is the planet of love and beauty). Lately, I’ve been writing new Mars poems (Mars is the planet of sex and power).

Here’s a new Mars poem. I wrote this when a Brooklyn Poets prompt made me think about punctuation. The feeling of a question mark. The reputation of a comma.

I hope you like it (especially if you’ve got some Libra in you),

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

MARS IN LIBRA: PERIODS ARE MEAN AND COMMAS ARE CUTE AND I WANT TO SLEEP WITH YOU
I like your face
and ass
equally, sorry
I’m unsorry,
I only meant that
if you're into it,
I want to want you
like a spine-twisted
trashy novel,
180 degrees,
death grip,
nudes
in the locket
around my neck,
blushing in line
at the bank
as I picture
the small
of your back
like a tea cup
I lap up
the sweat from,
make me
sorry, set
the mood,
tell me
I’m pretty,
I’ll wear you
down to dust
with all this
wet warm beauty
if you’ll let me,
will you let me
be the last
to love you
like this
in the night
and the morning
and, if you wouldn’t mind,
the afternoon,
and on and on, and on
and on, and on,

Below is the link to register for the virtual open mic on April 26th at 2pm EST. Free for paid subscribers. This is a chance to share your work from National Poetry Writing Month. It’ll be chill and fun and you should join us!

And share a poem from your week in the comments. What are you working on? How did it come to you?

Periods Are Mean and Commas Are Cute and I Want to Sleep with You

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