Sex Antagonisms
A lurch/lull in 5 parts
I.
They’re not supposed to complete you,
A hole here or there, needs your tending -
But, what hole
Can’t you tend just for me?
Intermission
- searches “a while”
- 2 weeks to 8 months
- not helpful
- (the internet, not my soreness while searching)
- analogy: the difference between things made the same
- then, you show up...
- silly as usual...
II.
So, where do I put it - recommendations?
the \
once-i’ve-put-you-partially-in-my-red-yellows-making-me-autumn
.
III.
What happens when we fall,
body and bro, not the least
bit of fancy?
When we’re layered up loose,
like the terrier next door,
and his bud,
the blonde lab,
sniffing out babies
& exercise sweats
from this cold, perfect day?
What it means for us -
here, dancing, the dust
between plant pots,
not waiting on anything
but ourselves. And, our ankles,
wet, because everything
is wet.
So, that’s us -
in place,
laid out,
moaning.
IV.
who needs these childhood bios / repeated / what a relief / to skip it / tea lights at a bougie cafe / you know we’ll always find it / later / if we look
for now -
butter toast & termite-holes & tree-babies / surprise / at 1am (i touch your face like we’re both a joke)
“i’ll hold you tightly i’ll squeeze it all out of you let it wash away”
…
fuck me, i’ll store up fantasies, let them blow
…
V.
no space / for more obsessions / but your hands / hard / coaxing / grapes / out of me /
Dina Paulson is a poet, essayist, and entertainment writer. In 2017, she founded Aqua Editing, a storyteller for creative thinkers. She published her chapbook, Parts of love, with Finishing Line Press (2018), which placed in their New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition. Her second poetry collection, TOUCH / breaks is forthcoming from akinoga press (2023/4). Her writing appears in Collider, Cine Suffragette, FanFare, The Rumpus, and Flash Fiction Magazine, among others. Before starting Aqua Editing, she worked with startups, nonforprofits, and schools as a content writer and taught writing and second language learning in English and Spanish.
twitter @writeandsea • instagram @dinaspaulson