Sage Curtis: Drowning Daddy Issues
Matthew Smith
Untouchable Number
after Host by Jericho Brown
We want eye contact, if only
brief & acknowledging & we want
it to end in drowning daddy
issues. We don’t bother
to read the warning labels
or your nametag. We leave
you singles to say see you
next time. All taps. All forget
our Macbook desk jobs and sorry
studios with hot plates. All
forget the rent is due. No worries.
Every hipbone is a chance to bump
and talk our way out of here. We got
heart cracks and helplessness
to run from. No one graduates
us without breaking bones. We can’t
afford that kind of stability.
We like to tease them with,
maybe you can come back
sometimes. Bring an old ID.
The picture is hardly you
anymore. Maybe eyes. Maybe
nose. Certainly not the look
of some untouchable number
of nights with no sleep. No
too many tacos from Taqueria Lorenas
not much hidden in some
freckled cheeks, smile. Are we
in there somewhere? Or did
we get chased out by boys
who stuck their dicks in our hands,
left without so much as
a thank you. Won’t call you
later. Be there
when he wants to be sucked
off. We try to fight
back, but we don’t know
how to give away bent keys,
just topless pics. We know
the music of pint glasses knocking.
Sage Curtis is a Bay Area poet and MFA candidate at the University of San Francisco. Her work has been published in numerous literary journals and she performs it whenever possible. Recently, she's been interested in the glamour and grit of addiction, and places we find it unexpectedly. You can find more of her work at sagedaniellecurtis.wordpress.com
