wild ducks lived in my pool
i kissed my friends
their cheeks were as soft
as the water
it was sad to see them go
i went to therapy
i ate my favourite food
the music told me
not to stop believing
and i didn’t
when i looked up
i understood
Adriana La Cerva and I Run Away
in a dream we’re driving off
a clear october morning
suitcases by our feet
we don’t tell our girls
we don’t tell our mothers
we are on a mission for love
we are so good in our tank tops
and golden bangles and high ponytails
cruising the sun-dappled road
winter should see these shoulders
with the radio blasting
i look through the window
and spot two birds
emerging from the woods
and flying away
how do i say this
we’ll see you up there
To Furio, From Carmela
as i was washing the dishes
i dried each one carefully
and made sure they sparkled
hoping i would see your face
i thought about cooking you lasagna
hiding my feelings in its layers
they would reveal themselves to you
with every bite
it’s childish i know
but how else would you describe
what we’ve been doing
playing house and picking tiles
and dancing in front of family
when you didn’t show up for coffee
i sat on the kitchen table
until the sky turned as dark and liquid
i felt like my daughter does sometimes
i wanted to shut my bedroom door
and not come down for dinner
but i still had my daughter to feed
and a man that wasn’t you
so i got started with the ziti
and it turned out perfect
Francisca Matos is a poet from Lisbon living in London. Her work has appeared in Profound Experience of Earth and Vagabond City, and her forthcoming debut collection will be published with Write Bloody UK. Find her on Instagram @ccisca.
Max Allison co-founded the label Hausu Mountain with Doug Kaplan in 2012, and his visual art appears on the label’s album covers and packaging. His designs reconfigure small samples of pixel art from 16-bit video games made for the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis into dense collages that stretch into spreads of isometric 3D space. He records music solo under the name Mukqs and plays in the projects Good Willsmith, BBsitters Club, Pepper Mill Rondo, Lord Mute, and Crazy Bread. Max lives in Chicago; you can find him on Twitter at @Goodwillsmith.
