Mermaid

Jesus—
he came to her in $4.95 cigarette packs,
her with a body like poetry;
she just smiled when they touched it;
she couldn't feel anymore
that body like an empty shell.
And when she saw it,
the shimmering scales
of a too-tight dress,
on a too-tight soul,
she realized she was a fish,
and she drowned in the pool.

- Lauren Sukin

(featured in the poetry forum 09.14.11)

Kisses

PINK KISS

It was exactly what would happen if you drained
all the color from
bubble gum
and the kind of light blood you only bleed from skinned knees
and threw it all together
and called it hair
and that's what i was looking at
when he grabbed my hand
stared deep into my eyes
and proclaimed:
I never knew a girl with lips so pink.

BLUE KISS

I didn't know what he was thinking,
Which was highly unusual,
Until he kissed me.
And his blue question mark eyes,
Searched for an answer I didn't have.
They caught us on a security camera,
That turned all its pictures blue.
And I pretended I loved him,
So they wouldn't tell anyone,
That I kissed the boy with blue eyes.

GREEN KISS

I used to have a green dress,
emerald green.
I would hide in the grass with him,
just us two.
Kissing only when a cloud passed overhead.
It was our little game.
But then his face flushed green jealous,
Because I looked so pretty in my little green dress,
That his took his hand and slapped my cheek.
And I feel down, and hid from him in the grass.
Green in the green.

BLACK KISS.

- Lauren Sukin

(featured in the poetry forum 06.17.11)

Boys and Girls

once
farther away than you would think
we used to smile
on the days we pulled water from the creek in big buckets

14
that’s the number of billboards here
photo shop faces
omniscient, watching girls vs. boys cops and robbers

run
everyone is chasing you now
you don’t know it yet
but they turn on each other in the end. vicious games.

trees
K-I-S-S-I-N-G but
this time it hurts bad
don’t say I didn’t warn you when they find your body.

- Lauren Sukin

(featured in the poetry forum 05.01.11)