by Leah Marie Johnson
Do you ever wonder why we go into fluorescent boxes
to grab energy for our human to persist?
Wait a second. Did you all hear that?
Did you all hear what Ashley just said? Say it again, Ashley.
Ashley what the fuck does that mean.
Ashley why don’t you speak like a normal human being. You live here.
Ashley why can’t you hate yourself like the rest of us.
You don’t want to end up like Georgia, do you? It’s so sad
watching her walk all alone. Do you really like walking all alone?
Ashley said that we are walking with shapes that we don’t need,
like big squares when we have our mouths to hold
what we would rather leave sacred, or small squares
when we can just take what we want and leave
when we need, rectangles for our impossible world
of spheres and triangles and edges where reality forms.
We walk into a gas station in our hometown
to grab energy drinks and beer
for what we think will be the longest day
of our lives but all it really is
is just another Wednesday
after high school before the game and
after Geometry, and Ashley thinks it’s the whole god damned fucking world.
Leah Marie Johnson is a poet and writer living in and about California. She wants you to be emotional, for obvious reasons. Most of her work can be found somewhere on the internet, and you can reach her on her socials, God willing.