An orgasm in 3 parts (to be read out loud)

October 12, 2021 4:34 pm Published by Jasmine Ledesma

aloof couch wading in diminishing flashes of television candy-bar advertisements skim-milk another swig one more handful ever-patient hand-painted chrysalis swaying traffic stop pink sedatives pension check lost in the mail father clock mother clock printed stamp glossy photograph of a backyard blurred photograph with thumb covering the dog outtake clock morning forecast as coffee dribbles into a smudged glass tornado documentary caramels tea that has sat in blue shadows all evening garden snake receipts smashed into an unused folder pop-music flooding the grocery store preventative tactics lopsided ice-cream bar fresh out of the plastic greening rings four pegs on bar-stool garrulous telecasters speaking of impeding thunderstorms cinched silk palms filled with sugar fried coil the whir of a blender a new smattering of freckles after an afternoon spent in sunlight starved all day shooting range test dummies hydrant flung open sending cascades of government water onto the street and across dashboards soaking wives and paperwork neon fish marbles sent across the floor heat in an elevator at the edge of a four-way lane rousing sermon candles spontaneous fits public screaming match razor burns ant-hill bleached ends idiotic laughter at absolutely nothing wind spinning throughout the house please, please bikes left stranded like skeletons driving over an unseen curb phone-call assertions speeding downtown pocket-knife crackling ice-cubes hoarse from fighting paused at the top of a ferris wheel looking down at carts of cotton candy dangling like a tree-limb blizzards the opera of a radiator summons a sudden spider gilded lobbies horns a grand battalion going blind with bloodshed horse-races overwhelmed basins shadows made colossal by glowering moonlight crashing orchestras flocks of dirty pigeons all taking flight at once hoards of sparks above disasters shrill utopia robberies ignition voyages birthing stars feast running from lights lost tooth cathedrals fuschia unnamed unfounded gone

(If your eyes hurt and you need it easier, read it in full here!)

Jasmine Ledesma lives in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared or is set to appear in places like Borderlands, Vice, Rattle and [PANK] among others. Her work was also nominated for both Best of The Net and the Pushcart Prize in 2020. She was recently awarded a fellowship with Brooklyn Poets.

Categorised in: Features, Suburban Feelings