transfiguration of the part-time girl
ah the grotesque
glamor of being a creature
spending the days alone scuttling around the apartment
catching up on medications
subsisting on coffee & canned beans
browsing new shower curtains online
the comfort is crushing the opposite end of the sofa
closing in like the spring-loaded bar of a trap
when i finally leave again i comb my hair tuck the rat's tail into my skirt
but i can smell that carcass
festering under all my clothes
baroque period
feelings sound dumb when
i explain them aloud besides
i'm too busy hemorrhaging
through my underwear today
spending 20 dollars on menstrual cups
when i'm this broke is a cardinal sin
with each new week of void-sitting
i look more & more like a cherub
my rosy baby body keeps congealing
& i allow it i allow it to
scrape across the bed like
strawberry jam on toast
but in all sincerity
do you want to know
the real secret to staying the softest girl?
scald yourself in the shower multiple times per day
never let anything that hurts leave you alone
Ariel Clark-Semyck is a graduate from the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Chicago where she serves as a part-time henchwoman for various places of business. Her poems and reviews have been published in or are forthcoming in Dream Pop Journal, Witch Craft Magazine, The Nottingham Review, Third Coast Review, and Re:Visions.