2 poems by McCaela Prentice

Redownloading Tinder

I step in chicken shawarma on the date and that slick

grease on the sole of my shoe gets dragged over anotherdoormat

another number I have not saved yet is asking about dinner

is asking about my sign/ is asking what I’m looking for I’m

looking for something on this menu that I could have with a beer/

that I could have with three beers/ I’m not saying this hasn’t been fun

I’m not saying that we can’t do it again I’m just saying that

everyone in this city is holding onto something that still lights up their phone

that every man in this city is looking for a therapist he can fuck/

that I am looking for another man I can fuck while he looks me in the eyes

that was not an invitation to ask about my ex/ this was not an invitation

to do anything but undress

Sorry I Cried In Bed It’s Just that I

have swallowed a flare/ have never bruised this shade of yellow/ had honeysuckles blossom bloody/ on my chest

or seen crushed capillaries/ constellate beneath the bludgeon of a kiss. wasn’t it you/ who told me that/ it was not an apple/ but a fig

in the garden/ where sleep is sown. all night you turn over/ like a moon jelly

in the wake and I gather/ the sheets in my hands.

_________________

McCaela Prentice is living and writing in Astoria, New York with her Betta fish named

Skeletor. Her poetry has previously appeared in Ghost City Press, Hobart, and Perhappened Magazine. Her debut poetry chapbook JUNK DRAWER HEART was published by Invisible Hand Press in 2020.