SG Huerta
When everything died,
I grew painfully aware of my suicide
awareness tattoo. A bug flew into
my coffee while I stared at my wrist
and my cat stole my spot on the couch.
A week ago, I was writing odes to dead
cockroaches, and now this. Dead dad.
I have to get back to work, but the bug
is floating around in my coffee and I
have Facebook comments to respond to.
I’ve never felt more loved, except
when my dad overdosed two summers
ago. We almost lost him. Now we did.
Facebook keeps showing me adverts
for the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention. I’m starting to
wonder if that fly purposely drowned
himself. Here I am going on about
dead bugs again. Not you, too, bug.
Not me, too. So many songs on my
playlist mention suicide. I can’t stop
mentioning suicide. The word begins
to look funny, the letters blending
together, the “u” running into the “i.”
The word just won’t make sense.
awareness tattoo. A bug flew into
my coffee while I stared at my wrist
and my cat stole my spot on the couch.
A week ago, I was writing odes to dead
cockroaches, and now this. Dead dad.
I have to get back to work, but the bug
is floating around in my coffee and I
have Facebook comments to respond to.
I’ve never felt more loved, except
when my dad overdosed two summers
ago. We almost lost him. Now we did.
Facebook keeps showing me adverts
for the American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention. I’m starting to
wonder if that fly purposely drowned
himself. Here I am going on about
dead bugs again. Not you, too, bug.
Not me, too. So many songs on my
playlist mention suicide. I can’t stop
mentioning suicide. The word begins
to look funny, the letters blending
together, the “u” running into the “i.”
The word just won’t make sense.
Biography
SG Huerta (they/them) is a Chicana poet from Dallas. They are pursuing their MFA at Texas State University and currently live in Texas with their cat Lorca. They are the author of the chapbook The Things We Bring with Us: Travel Poems (Headmistress Press, 2021). Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in perhappened mag, Serotonin Poetry, Emerge Literary Journal, The Daily Drunk Mag, and various other places. Find them on Twitter @sg_poetry
