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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