TWO POEMS by MEGAN WILLIAMS
THE HAIRSTYLIST ASKS WHAT WE’RE DOING TODAY
Cut it all off. Also: my cat just died. Also: infected finger. Also: sawed myself clean in half. An online doctor ordered antibiotics when I FaceTimed him my fat red pinky. Don’t really “eat” these days, but bought zero-sugar Chobani for stomach-coating. I thought maybe Draco stopped sleeping at my feet because he could smell infection? Turns out, yes. Turns out, it was his. When my fever got worse, the IRL doctor took a scalpel to my shiny skin. He saw my new body & said Keep up the Good Work. Draco had a butterfly-shaped patch of fur on his back. When I leaned over to pet him for the last time, my longlong hair touched it before my fingers. Apparently the online doctor prescribed the wrong shit. So I’ve just been eating copious amounts of unnecessary yogurt? I sobbed. I was still crying at Sheetz so the truckers let me cut in line. Maybe a faster Diet Coke would fix me. I have to wonder how much Good Work there is left to do—so much of me already gone. Let’s find out!!! Grab your scissors, girlfriend.
Post-Hookup Klondike Bar
In her bathroom, I google how many calories sex burns.
O cooling sweat arithmetic. O greedy mouth. O my peek-a-booing ribcage.
Apparently, for women, an average of 69. (Nice.)
Adjust the equation—Google assumes a man was involved.
Vanilla ice cream melts down my arm. I must not lick it up.
When I say taking care of me is rotten work, I mean it:
you can smell organ breakdown on the breath.
Chocolate shell smears into my fingertips. I must not lick it off.
When I was 15, I took midnight field trips to the kitchen
and made myself sick on Chunky Monkey. Burying my face
between her thighs, I am shameless, but to be seen eating anything else—
the Klondike bar swirls down the toilet. O sad flushed sweetness,
O MyFitnessPal warning, O my daily intake too low.
Adjust the equation—how successful is my rotten work?
Megan Williams writes about anorexia, Sheetz, perception, kaleidoscopes and more. She's really into lists these days. Her debut collection, “TWENTYSOMETHING,” is forthcoming with Bullshit Lit in 2025. Tweet her @megannn_lynne or toss a bottle into the Ohio River. It'll reach her.