I spent all night in the bathroom pissing blood and crying

everything painted bright blue even the hardware

and the fan whirring

if I wanted I could give it all up

be hooked by a finger over my bottom teeth

and pulled liked a fish

in the morning now the wind whistles

I’m in the waiting room still bundled and

fantasizing about being picked up

and falling asleep in the car

what would I look like stripped of everyone I love

would the light through the curtain still glow orange

it doesn’t matter we’re all spun together in the washing machine

turning our whites pink

Previously published in rock salt, baseline press 2020

Olive Andrews (they/them) is a poet living in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Instagram I Twitter

This is the second of three poems they’ll be sharing via Also Cool. Olive’s work has been published in a number of magazines, including PRISM International and Plasma Dolphin. Their debut chapbook, rock salt, was published with Baseline press in 2020. They are currently interning at Canthius mag.

Artwork by Olivia Meek AKA Regularfantasy Instagram I Paintings I Design

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