humor

Because not every day was meant for bitterness

/ joanna / 3 Comments

I bought a unicorn. Swapped
it for my work-a-day black
espresso taken with a daily dose
of state-of-the-world and self-disgust.
All sweet-tart pink
powder & blue syrup, topped
with a spiral of pure white cream;
you needn’t tell me no one needs that crap,
the processed sugar & color, short-
chained fats, the plastic cup;
I savored every last drop, followed it up
at the Salvation Army
with a pair of crocheted pants
and a sleeveless fringed tank
2 sizes too large that reads:
love the little things.

lust poem no.2

/ joanna / 14 Comments

she leaves
panties under the
pillow, no

notches on the bed-
post, no clawmarks
across the back

of his-
tory; her story (just)
another scar between the lips

of now & never, her
perfume leftover
in the bathroom

mirror, her shape
imprinted in cotton-
sheeted (im)possibilities.

death of a houseplant (Rowdy’s Revenge)

/ joanna / 21 Comments

photo courtesy of Josue O. Colop

.

Beside the chair
of sweatstained red
where I watch the city’s
freckling swelter
on sticky noon
Tuesdays, a lily
lies dying. Nothing
noticeable, mind;
a faint fading into
the badly primed
walls; a slow
yellow march
into composted
tomorrows. Wilted,
ailurophilic leaves
pulled floorward
by a gravity that could
kill us all. A lily lies
dying, and no amount
of hydrostatic
pressure-infused dew-
drawn drippings
can save it nor sweet
lullaby reverse the
slow spiral
down. A lily
lies dying; a lone brave
blossom lifts its
lily-head above the decay,
perches birdlike
poised for bloom,
an unfurling of pale
trumpets some unknown
dawn from now,
a defiant farewell.