STEVIE N. BERBERICK
  • About
  • Reframing Sex
  • Teaching
  • Writing
  • Photography
  • Video
  • Contact

Under the gas light on 51st

5/27/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
"street lights" by fox_mulder_cp
​
She drew your name on the wall in pastel permanence 
I would have seen it if I wanted 
Colored biohazard symbols into the circles of your surname 
"I should have seen it”
I repeat this like a mantra in hopes it’ll baptize me 


But toxic things are often sweet 
Artificial sugar 
Sucralose 


You apologized when it suited you 
Silent days spent in the company of your contempt 
I only spoke up when I had enough whiskey not to give a fuck
To cut the care from my body like it is legion 


But damn, could we make that bitter, burnt coffee taste better 
With the sheer velocity of our wanting 
Sucralose 
Chocolate chip pancakes 
We smile over breakfast as if the words said had suddenly disappeared 


These sweet-n-low stories I told myself 
​In the desperate attempt to make a permanent marker washable
2 Comments
Veronica Mezquiti
5/27/2020 08:19:10 am

I felt this so deeply. Thank you for writing this.

Reply
Angela
5/27/2020 09:16:31 am

Beautifully written and raw ❤️

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Stevie N. Berberick is an Assistant Professor of Communication Arts at Washington and Jefferson College. Stevie often finds themself hostessing solitary dance parties in the kitchen, hanging out with their furrmiliars (Ivy and Halle), or playing with alchemy while electroforming jewelry -- when they're not reading, researching, and/or writing, that is.

    Archives

    May 2020
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    May 2014
    February 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.