3 Poems by Lauren Milici

When James Enters the House in the Blair Witch (2016)

the door locks behind him, obviously—
      haven’t you ever seen a scary movie?
            this is the one / where the monster
      is grief. nobody fucks
not even in the pitch black
      lullabied by the scratchscratchscratch
            of branches like fingers like Heather,
                                                is that you?
when the door locks, everyone dies
      but you already knew that:
            the Final Girl follows James / the camera
      cuts out cuts back static static static & suddenly, blood
suddenly, the long-limbed flesh / of something faceless
      & James, you did this:
            split the tree at the root / hanged your friends
                  from the branches
you said: my sister is still out there
      as if she held her last breath
                                    for you

Remember When I Cried in That Church We Found?

why ask
if you already know

the answer, lauren / birds fly
out of my mouth

all the goddamn time
the woman i love

is too sad / to breathe
hi sweetheart hi

darling anywhere i am is lonely so
don’t take it personally

It Only Took A Whisper

I leave because I’m good
at that—there’s always some bullshit
reason to kill your girlfriend. A ghost
is a ghost is a ghost. Consider:
bloodletting as therapy or, wrists are for girls,
I’m slitting my own throat. Night
becomes morning becomes a bluer shade of dark
& nothing matters. Not even you.

Tags: lauren milici, nicole rifkin