I LIFT WEIGHTS POST-TOP SURGERY WHILE LISTENING TO GAUNTE & BIG CATS’ “IN THE ENDLESS NIGHT OF DARK, EATING APPLES”
“We’re not stuck in here with the apocalypse;
the apocalypse is in here, stuck with us.”
the apocalypse quivers & takes a sip of its Bud Light.
it has never seen a party like this.
it is truly & terribly outnumbered,
while we sway to a beat crushing out of the speakers,
while we braid each other’s hair, & glitter,
while the boys who are not boys teach the
girls who are not girls
to put on lipstick
made from our own secret blood.
& oh, & oh, & oh,
apocalypse, what can you teach me of blood?
i have learned it for decades.
i have stared into the eye of a wound
& the wound blinked first.
oh, the parts of myself i have seen.
the scars on my chest measure twenty-one inches,
twin daggers whose extraordinary mathematics sharpen me.
you’d pray
to know yourself
like that.
i’ve got a spare room.
i’ve got a garden.
we hid my daddy’s guns in the polebarn.
am i scaring you?
we are gentle creatures gone savage.
we are sitting in our rocking chairs & watching the birds.
Ollie Schminkey
Ollie Schminkey (they/them) has spent the past decade coaching, mentoring, teaching classes, and running workshops for poets. They’ve performed poems in 21 states, and their work has been published everywhere from the trails of Silverwood Park to Poets.org. They are the author of three books through Button Poetry: Dead Dad Jokes, Where I Dry the Flowers, and Don’t Be Afraid to be Bad. When they’re not poet-ing, you can also find them making pottery or playing with their cat Pete, who is always trying to eat things he shouldn’t.Ollie Schminkey (they/them) has spent the past decade coaching, mentoring, teaching classes, and running workshops for poets. They’ve performed poems in 21 states, and their work has been published everywhere from the trails of Silverwood Park to Poets.org. They are the author of three books through Button Poetry: Dead Dad Jokes, Where I Dry the Flowers, and Don’t Be Afraid to be Bad. When they’re not poet-ing, you can also find them making pottery or playing with their cat Pete, who is always trying to eat things he shouldn’t.