One Poem
Daphné B.
–
there’s a poem
in the women’s bathroom
‘my love i will never heal
if you keep fucking my wound’
this is how a woman feels
a million times
the same choreography
it’s sunday night
violin
with beers & dreary dudes
soon, it is morning again
there are pictures of slot machines
in her phone
they must have looked poetic
at the bar, last night
she called you twice
left no message
and soon, it was morning again
**
are you that girl-girl
whose poetry speaks to everyone
it felt sexy and fearless
to feel nothing at all
but you’ve never been that
girl-girl
grief
does not pour itself
into a small green bowl
like a pancake mix
you only know what it feels
to be you
in new york city
it feels numb
all pizzerias bear the same name
and you think –
what makes me different
aren’t i into photography
or something
a sign says
‘let someone who can spell
baba ghanoush
make it’
and you think –
i am good, i am smart
i am living in the past
it is easier to grieve
than to fade
so you wait for the light to turn green
because you
are afraid of death
buy a miniature doll
that comes with
a double bed, two nightstands
and a framed picture of herself
the toy
is not suitable for kids under 6
it is so tiny
one can swallow it
choke on a mouthful
of her two legs
her two or three
beautiful dresses
for this is how
we remember you
& that’s why you wanted
to be there
Daphné B. teaches romantic break up and magic in Montreal. She published her first collection of poetry Bluetiful (les Éditions de l’Écrou) in 2015, which will be adapted in Nuits Frauduleuses, (Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui: 2017). She is the coeditor of Filles Missiles, a francophone feminist blog. You can watch one of her video poems here: I Am a Girl.
Marie-Audrey Jacques explored the relationship between identity and its representation on social media through collages and Photoshop montages. She lives in Montreal where she works as a stage designer.