beautiful girl

if you were a beautiful
girl
all glitter doll & sown up crotch
& i had the moves of usher
or the balls of balboa
neither of us
would have much ado
about sinking in tight pairs.

but since we are no longer
beautiful
& my best five digits are numb
since i can no longer
carry the three of us:
you me & the person
you wanted me to be,
it would be more expedient
to fall into this
trench
& build replicas
of ourselves
with mud fingers & air
having no need
today
for left over
misshapen
balloons.

TOKYO GIRLS IN SCIENCE FICTION:  SEX-SUGAR CHARGE TYPE THING

She had sex with all them, narrow-necked men prone to insulin shock. Some not as sweet or dense as others. In one way or another they all died being struck by lightening, sometimes, during the act. She stores the charges of her dead men in her head, hands, and body, which she likes to think of as a leyden jar. One day the jar bursts from too much stored love, too much sweetness. She finds she can no longer shock lovers. But rather, she feels transparent. The world wraps around her like foil, then unravels her. For years, she wakes up sad in places like London or Philadelphia. She broods atop glassy-eye moors, the loneliest and most non-conductive in the world. Considers the drop, the deadfall. She’ll dump her old needles into the night. She’ll invent the world’s largest sugar cookie. It will make her happy but comatose.

Kyle Hemmings is the author of several chapbooks of poems:  “Avenue C” (Scars Publications), “Fuzzy Logic” (Punkin Press), and “Amersterdam & Other Broken Love Songs” (Flutter Press).  He has been published in Gold Wake Press, Thunderclap Press, Blue Fifth Review, Step Away and The Other Room.  He blogs at http://upatberggasse19.blogspot.com/.

Hypertext Magazine and Studio (HMS) publishes original, brave, and striking narratives of historically marginalized, emerging, and established writers online and in print. HMS empowers Chicago-area adults by teaching writing workshops that spark curiosity, empower creative expression, and promote self-advocacy. By welcoming a diversity of voices and communities, HMS celebrates the transformative power of story and inclusion.

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