BY STEPHANIE VALENTE
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE CRYSTAL MAKERS
i would like to tell us both why
these things happen –
i don't know, sweetheart. they just do,
just like the same action
happens over & over
on a vinyl recording, one day
instead, it forms a crystal.
I'M SORRY, IS THAT TOO SUBMISSIVE FOR YOU?
we were not stars tonight
so slow & dewy, we were chewing
the leaves & we asked the moonlight:
how can you get by in times of trouble?
because who cares when your throat
grows its own black hole? we're all going to die.
in that moment, we were almost human
or stars, waiting for glimmer, so the universe
would notice, or give us a soft touch. i said,
is my red, red enough? i'm waiting for your teeth
at my throat. it's only good manners.
ARE YOU READY FOR THE AFTERLIFE?
there's sage sometimes. little dribbles of beach glass. your former lover's voice. a memory: a whisper your can almost feel. the sweat, too. but, you never will. the childhood dog will follow you around. don't worry, they're just here for the bacon. you'll always find black coffee & spare change. always pennies. the sex isn't bad at all – you'll get used to it. you'll even like it. you can watch your old life in a mirror glass cup. eventually, you'll get bored of it & change the channel. tune into bridgette bardot – it's far superior & no commercial breaks. you'll still look for shipwrecks like a kid palming for treasure. you might find some, if the other dead haven't gotten there first. break the waves. it feels better than anything. i promise.
Stephanie Valente lives in Brooklyn, NY. She has published Hotel Ghost (Bottlecap Press, 2015) and has work included in or forthcoming from Danse Macabre, Nano Fiction, and Black Heart. Sometimes, she feels human. http://stephanievalente.com