Olive Andrews Shares "I’m trying to tell you" From Three-Part Poetry Series
Artwork by Olivia Meek AKA Regularfantasy
I’ve been waking up earlier and earlier
and boiling the kettle and forgetting the tea
but the floor is warm and I have my lemon shampoo
there was one day in the spring
I poured the booze down the drain and put the bottle by the window in the light
do you remember the night I was up sick
and feeling very by myself and quiet
afraid to text I thought you’d be sleeping
and now you’re here
and being alone doesn’t fill my brain like that
as a child to relax I’d imagine
taking each bone from my body and giving it a good scrub gently pushing it back into place
but how impossible it is to do everything right
creating space in my spine is a nice thought
and really that’s all
except there’s something right about trying to do better so I try to do better
and boil the kettle
Previously published in rock salt, baseline press 2020
Via Olive Andrews
Olive Andrews (they/them) is a poet living in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Instagram I Twitter
This is the third of three poems they have shared via Also Cool. Their 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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Olive Andrews Shares "loneliness moments" From Three-Part Poetry Series
Artwork by Olivia Meek AKA Regularfantasy
loneliness moments
stir the cardamom into your tea and wait
think about weyes blood all day
love yourself silly
all the energy you’ve been searching for
in spring it’s early morning always
you’re out walking
hoping someone will tell you something
dark and heavy
you can sit with for a while
a song comes on about longing
go to a coffee shop and waste the afternoon away
writing nothing in your journal
just watching the pen needle loop
calling landlords
surprised when they’re expecting you
someone says hey three times you realize they’re
talking to you
blocking off the hallway
talking about endings
wondering when they’ll be real to you
the power’s out and it’s exciting
just you and the wood floor and the wind whistling
your boyfriend breathing heavy and the table shaking
finding warmth under duvet
peeling tape up from cardboard
turn your phone off for an hour
wishing the plums were sour
enough to make you pucker
it’s okay until your roommates leave for the weekend
just you and your cat running laps
the frantic dep employee
the neighbour you spot on your walk home from groceries
long enough to remember being 18 again
wrapped up in bed all day
you could have died in that apartment
no one would have noticed
Via Olive Andrews
Olive Andrews (they/them) is a poet living in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal). Instagram I Twitter
This is the first of three poems they’ll be sharing via Also Cool. Their 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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