THREE POEMS by MOLLEIGH JUDD
A Love Poem
it was raining out you asked
do you still love me
while crocheting a hat the
size of my head on
the red couch i
answered mhm please
forgive my thoughtless
response for i have bitten
a regretful chunk out of the
block of weed butter that’s
been in the freezer for months
when i shake the mason
jar it’s kept in it rattles like
i’ve found a precious rock
but next time i’ll say of course
i love you and thanks
for keeping my head warm
and suggest we tie our
eyelashes together as i
seek shelter beneath
the roof of your mouth
Prop Knife
the stains are
kroger brand
ketchup and
rehearsed
screams thrown
into another
rinse cycle i
find distractions
in the rearranging
of nearly erased
chalkboard letters
to spell G-A-Y
and saying hateful
things about
people i don’t
know but you
are starving
well liked and well tattered like sweet
childhood friendship or confetti
released for mellophones but i’m
worried my words will be hollow
until they’re next to my leftover
teeth and i told work i couldn’t
come in because my roommate
needed to be taken to the hospital
which of course was a lie but
she did have a kidney stone
and we did celebrate its
passing so i’m worried my
lies make me my father
and i’m worried you
would kill for me because
i cannot do the same my
feet are feet of roots
toenails grown long
into spirals they
anchor me into the
soil there’s tea
tree oil on my
skin come
smell
me
Weekday
everything is stopping
to tie your
shoes
stopping to tie
your shoes
stopping
to tie
your shoes
on the walk
home and
the shell
of a dead
squirrel
soaking into
the sidewalk
and calves bared
in the cold
dry skin clawed
into
coke lines
sucking teeth
for the taste
of smoke
in dreams they go
missing or
rotten
in life they’re
chipped
tenderly chipped
wonderfully chipped
like
mom’s
our jagged
grins on a
tandem bike
her night guard
dust stained
on the
side table
gnawing neighbored
mugs of mold
and balls
of fur
i’m wooing
the quiet
writing
lovesick words
and robbing
wilted stems
from their
homes there
are winds
boxing naked
branches and
birds being fed
and fits of
laughter
slamming
bodies together
streetlights
lean over
like shower heads
i bathe
in
the
light
Molleigh Judd (she/they) is a creative writing student at Virginia Tech. She is mostly quiet on Twitter @m0lleigh.