Poetry by Danielle Patino

      Ian Sane CC 




Hands                             

On a cold night in September 
We hold
The peaked weight 
Of pretend. This large game
We’ve played 
With years of bated breath;
Here we are at
It’s culmination, and I think
You may lose. 

Your eyes feign focus 
On the TV 
But you’re thinking 
Of surrender--
It may be better 
That way.

Your hands break 
The silence;
You let your fingers rub 
The knuckle of my thumb
Under this cave of linens
Where wilderness 
Spews. This bed 
Is the soil which birthed us,
Our primal return. 
We know we’re sitting in dirt, 
The skill is in pretending 
We’re clean. 

I don’t move a muscle; 
I too stare at the screen—our 
Safety; home-base—but I feel 
Your caress, each tendril’s 
Stroke, it grows 
With intent. A warning, 
You are giving up;
You’re losing, 
You’re losing, you will 
Take me soon. Me, a girl 
In your hands. 





If I Wasn’t So Boring 
I Bet I’d Be Loved.                                                                                                                                  

I fantasize the blast 
Of drugs and drink 
I could be 
At 3am in
Your spider infested 
Glass room;
It’s rainy and cold,
We swat our legs 
Against mosquitos –
A pain to stop a pain –
And we moan in tandem 
With rainfall barking
Against blurred windows
That keep us shut in;
The place wears
A golden dim
Like yellowed teeth;
The smoke from your cigarette 
Catches in my hair and it
Cataracts your eyes
Though that isn’t why 
You won’t look at me.
My panties hang 
Off the edge of your father’s 
Rusted barbecue, 
My bare clit 
Dripping phlegm
On your dirty plastic chair, 
Your fingers, 
Sticky from gas station 4-lokos,
Sliding in 
And out of me--
It would take only one look 
For you to know
Something’s missing, and
Quick, you’d fill yourself
Back into me,
The mess of two humans 
We could be.

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Danielle (she/her) is a graduate student in the Adolescent English Education program at Hunter College in NYC. She has an Undergraduate Degree in Creative Writing, with a minor in Religion, from Hunter College as well. You can access her full repertoire of published works, or read her book reviews at storybeforeslumber.com.