Poetry by Grace Gardiner

                  whatcanyouseenow! ghosts and stuff CC



Self-Portrait with Tinder Byline And I Eat Men Like Air


       After the shower’s fog
my eyes smudge black
        with mascara’s smoke. 
My phone dings on. 
        A man wants me
to explain what Plath 
        means by eating.
He asks how big
        is your mouth. 
I caption a close-up
        of my dripping lips: 
how much room
         do you need? 
His texts’ gray bubbles
          blink back fast
on my lock screen, light
          the dark path 
from the bathroom 
          mirror to my unmade
bed. I pull the loose
          sheet up like a noose
around my neck. 
          When I tell him
but I don’t swallow,
          when I ask him my place
or yours, what I mean
          is Will you
hurt this body? 
          I want you to 
split me by my throat.

​

Grace Gardiner is a British-American non-binary poet and burgeoning intermedia installation artist. Find them online at pearlsthatwere.tumblr.com.

---