Two Poems by Marisa Crawford

 

from He Won’t Buy Me Bloomie’s

 
*
 
Otherworldly whimsy. Blushing toward a feeling of death.
 
Clothes that look severely expensive. Luxury brands that aren’t really a luxury at all.
 
If you buy the perfume today, you essentially get a goody bag with it.
 
Buying clothes you don’t like. Running up the stairs to a job you hate.
 
On the subway, one hunched over old man gave up his seat to another hunched over old man.
 
The woman who hates Bloomingdale’s so much she broke the elevator with the power of her hatred.
 
I was wearing the Smashing Pumpkins ZERO shirt.
 
I was in ISS and the Unabomber was bombing and you were somewhere, looking for me everywhere.
 
I was wearing the argyle sweater we passed around in the 8th grade.
 
Janie’s hair when she wore it. Dave’s braces when he wore it.
Jes’s rings when she wore it. Even God wore it.
 
I was in the bathroom channeling Janie’s mom’s bathroom.
 
I was in the conference room channeling Ariel.
 
I was wearing jeans as blue as a housewife in the 50s.
 
I fell backward on the train like I was in a mosh pit, and the crowd saved me.
 
 
*
 
My pilly cardigan. My pink birthday cake with fake roses. Somebody’s “Heine.”
 
We’re all 30/ we’re all dying/ we all were born yesterday.
 
It’s idiotic. How after you kissed me I stood around with my mouth hanging open for
 
days. My tits out like a nursing “mom” in the park. A nursing party girl.
 
I ran on the elliptical again & again & again but it didn’t change anything.
 
He hit me with a bomb, I remember it.
 
Don’t tell them to grow up, and out of it. Where’s your gym at?
 
Where’s the party? Sadie? Your hair had that hot honey halo in my dream
 
last night. I thought you were here when I woke up.
 
In New York City. I thought the light could carry me.
 
 
 
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10447857_10152465963519841_1088871517600780455_nMarisa Crawford is the author of the poetry collection The Haunted House (Switchback Books, 2010), and the chapbook 8th Grade Hippie Chic (Immaculate Disciples Press, 2013). Her writing has recently appeared in HER KIND, Fanzine, Delirious Hem, The Hairpin, and Bitch, among other places. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Find her online at marisacrawford.net.

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