from the bathroom at the union transfer

this poem is for the girls who dance at punk shows.

with pink hair and brunette roots, with dark lipstick

on their teeth.

this poem is for the carousel ring metallic smell

on my hands left from a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon,

blood smell, dirty city smell. this poem is for the

honeycomb bathroom tile, moving like acid trip nightmare.

this poem is for the drunk girls waiting in line to use the toilet.

for the girls who are beautiful because they are

not beautiful, but have accepted that.

I see you sway like candle flame, like

tree branch in heavy wind and that’s beauty,

that’s petals falling like snow

that I’m trying to catch on my tongue.

blue

bitter chardonnay like drinking

hydrogen peroxide, it’s just after sunset

when the sky’s 10 mg Ritalin blue,

blue as my father’s old jeans, and

white of threadbare, white of cobweb

and my soul’s blue as a robin’s egg

knocked from the nest.

I ask if you want to join me outside

and you tell me you’re just going to

keep watching your Yankees game.

I’m Yankee stripe blue, Parliament cigarette

insignia blue. frostbitten toe blue,

but I still go barefoot.

I’d imagine spring’s frostbite

feels like a kiss after a shared milkshake—

stomachache cream and ice.

the moon waxes. I wane.

These poems originally appeared in Spider Mirror

Rebecca Kokitus is a poet residing in the Philadelphia area. She has had poetry and prose published in almost fifty journals and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018. She is currently a student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she studies English with a concentration in Writing. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @rxbxcca_anna, and you can read more of her writing on her website: https://rebeccakokitus.wixsite.com/rebeccakokitus.

Image by Laddir Laddir

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