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James O'Leary

Waiting

​Atop soft, clean sheets
a pill bug crawls across what is to it an endless expanse of gray.
My skin itches. My prescriptions are overdue. I lie ashamed
a blanket over my head, teddy bears tossed
 
to the floor. I am terrified of touch
even by a being so small
I could bite it, crunch, swallow,
& my teeth could still shine white & clean.
 
As I wait for my wife to return from the city, I shake
nervous, bruised by the weight of the outside light
angled in through the shell of the afternoon.
Too soon, I say as I wait to kill the bug.
 
Too soon, the bug hesitates before my hairy leg.
The violence sitting between us wrinkles, then folds 
to hope. What use am I except to stand up
with a plastic cup, a sheet of paper, slide one under the other
 
& carry the rolly polly outside
to the sweet shimmering stalks of summer grass?
& when a wasp wipes it into the sky
like a buzzing yellow scythe
 
what choice do I have but to go back inside
& grab the sheets to press them clean

Biography

Picture
James O’Leary (they/them) is a gender-fluid Pisces barista from Arizona. After spending some time up and down their home state, James has currently relocated to New York City, where they are pursuing an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. James’s most recent work has appeared in such places as Frontier, Random Sample Review, and The Indianapolis Review. James wants to share some coffee with you and talk about birds. You can find them on Twitter @thesundaypoet
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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
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  • Issues
    • Issue 49
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    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions