A figure sits at a table with a hand on a beverage. The figure is stylized, vaguely human, and outlined in purple, green, and red. The background is scribbled in with thick, light purple strokes and thin, gray lines.

Two Poems

Issue 15 Poetry

BY MAX GILLETTE

Kitchen

1. The mug’s chipped rim wasn’t offensive, but estimating my atrophy is easier with another wreckage to stand in.

2. For two days, I walk through the fragments of my disorder. On the third day, I sweep.  

3. I try to believe in God. I think God is other people organizing oblivion into love. I want to believe in people. 

4. My sister sends me another mug and asks about a second opinion.

5. I wash the new mug by hand and pretend my fingers are numbed only by the water’s chill. 

6. Bottles of white pills crowd the back of the medicine cabinet. I’ve stopped going to the appointments. I don’t want to know where I stand.

Still Life with Addict at the Window

days // you do not // miss // being sober // the sun // 

a milky eye // your body // hungry // but never // wanting

to feed // except on // air // you are air hungry // 

that is // what they call it // when your // chest // drags

and stutters // like an engine // in January // lungs stalling // under

numb skin // you can’t feel // your bed or // the body // on it // gasping //

above you // the curtains // are pink polyester // lungs //

swelling easy // in the wind // mocking your // slow // progress //

beyond the curtains // sky // the pale sun // and geese //

their indifferent migration // through all our breath 

Max Gillette is a creative writing fellow at Ohio State University. Their work has appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine, Cutbow Quarterly, HAD, Moss Puppy Magazine, and elsewhere. Outside of writing, Max is an advocate for mental health and disability justice.
Image Credit: “Dining” by Ayshia Müezzin
Ayshia Müezzin a.k.a [ a y s h ] is a British-Cypriot Intermedia artist merging high and lo-tech methods to create physical and digital pieces. She is obsessed with futurism, MENA-region archaeology, Alashiyan mythology/history/culture and deconstructing ancient things with the use of contemporary drawing and technology to create the artefacts of the future.