CW: Body horror, death

i froze a pomelo to throw through your window
            i eat the glass and let it slide between my teeth
sometimes i like it
sometimes i watch Jim Bakker and his new wife
                        open barrels of imperishable food
 
it reminds me that i can't breathe
            when my head's out the car
window, going 90 down 580 east. sometimes
 
i wish for death, other times i'm just hungry
 
like that time i took a circular saw to my chest
for an overpriced hamburger and all you did was film me screaming
            WORLD STAR WORLD STAR WORLD STAR
a stranger on the internet said the embarrassment
would pass and to regulate my moods, so
 
don't ask me if i know about David Koresh
            don't make me Amo Bishop Roden
i'm not here to be put on trial
 
i just want the six-pack of Top Ramen you stole
            
            before i fall asleep forever
surrounded by trumpets and pale horses
i want people to dream of this day
                        and subsequently catch fire

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SIERRA VENTURA is a queer performer and writer slumming it in the East Bay. She currently attends Mills College in Oakland, CA where she is studying English, with an emphasis in creative writing. She has been published in The Forum, The Walrus, and Odd Compulsion. Her work has been compiled in the following chapbooks: Subhuman Sprawl and STYLE IS A FRAUD. Her first full-length poetry collection, Rituals, can be found under your local freeway overpass.