"Old 57" by Nick Wort
I read a story about a women who
thought she had Crohn’s disease but actually
had a ketchup packet stuck in her small intestine
slowly ripping away at the walls of her ass
I shit you not, this is true.
I would like to think of the story as a metaphor
I am the ketchup packet,
you are a poor woman who just wants to feel better
I cause your shits to be painful
No wait, that’s not right
I am the small intestine, you are the woman,
the ketchup packet is our failed relationship
Crohn’s diseases is a reoccurring character.
this is a sitcom
the actor who plays Crohn’s disease gets hit by a bus
(the bus is also a metaphor)
he is no longer in the show by season 2
It’s just us
It still hurts when you shit
you still do not love me
No, that’s not it either.
"Cashland Canto #12" by Nick Wort
Sometimes I imagine that we are running through
a forest and you are the forest
and I am running though you
and the forest is you, the you I
am running through
and your hair becomes the trees in the forest
that I am running through that is also you
and we are also together in this forest and walking
I am having a panic attack in a
basement with carpeting. This is
the richest place I have
ever been invited to.
Everything is clean, the soap is in
a ceramic dispenser with detailed flowers etched in the sides, it costs
at least $29.99
I cannot stop imagining what
it would look like if someone
dropped dead and molded into this basement carpet.
I would feel a little better if someone would do that for me.
I drunk drive home
that part’s not important but I want you to judge me
People only like me because I’m hot as fuck
that is a lie
every poem I’ve ever written is about Pearl Harbor
that is also a lie
I have not had enjoyable sex in two years
that is not a lie
I like to imagine what it would feel like
to die while eating at a restaurant
to adjust the napkin in my lap
(who am I kidding, I don’t put the napkin in my lap)
to take a bite and feel the umami
(I don’t even know what umami is)
savor the mingling spices
and then, feel my heart just stop
my muscles stiffen up
and boop, I'm done.