I knew you were hiding behind the shelf
silent and bare-ass naked
but I had important things to do

like say I’d make you breakfast,
but I forgot, because I saw the paint on the counter
asking to spread itself on blank pages
that I opened and shut, and opened and shut,
til it looked like I shit in a journal
and gave it to you.

So you said, “You shouldn’t try so hard.”
All those books I made bled onto the floor,
puddles of blood and pus you slipped throug
on your way to the next town.

And I was the black yolk in a stale boiled egg,
I was the crust you rubbed from your eyes at 7am,
the window you closed, that was me.

—–
Natalie Strickland is a 23-year-old fox living the modern life in Harrisonburg, VA. She produced the music ‘zine A$$, and the DIY collective arts journal Nonsense, Nonsense. Her poetry is published in Nonsense, Nonsense and Gardy Loo. Natalie is collaborating with friend and fellow writer Jesse Burke on a limited run, handmade chapbook. She currently writes and distributes 2COUNT, a serial one-page music ‘zine. Natalie’s time is spent breaking hearts, traveling, forming sloppy bands, doing college, beating dead horses, and freaking out on the internet.