“Things That Have Nearly Killed Me” & “Daylight Savings Time”
by Patti Creamer
Things That Have Nearly Killed Me:
a maraschino cherry—
torn and slimy, blushed—
floating in a space
that very much resembles
strauss’ dream, snow.
the twenty-four chargers—
perfectly silver, clanging—
it takes to turn chantilly
cream and brains as mushy
as clouds one through eight.
a mug of something cold—
carbonated, unthought of—
wait mugs are only for
warm things. wait whippets
are only for when you want
to do acid but only for
thirty seconds. wait
maraschino cherries
belong crystallized in
grenadine. wait where
is my sunday, my new time.
Daylight Savings Time
I cry in the mirror so I can imagine
what you see; it is codeine-colored conatus.
We yell about moons and minds
and we tread on air with our dance.
In the shower my cage is rattled;
I am barren and slowly burning.
That slimy sovereign screams into a pillow
stained blue, the same shade as my hair.
I lift seawater from the sheets
like a telekinetic Pisces racing home.
You return from a sabbatical where you gazed
upon hill country from windows that groan.
I am a desert evening primrose
buying fake weed at the smoke shop.
I am a Loman bitching about
borderline and beryl and bucolic life.
I am a packsaddle son trekking
for fifty nights just to prove myself.
I soliloquize about sickness until
daylight, when I am welded shut.
Come twilight you are gone once again
and so I retreat to the cheval glass.
Patti Creamer is a person who sometimes writes poetry. She currently lives in Austin, Texas and is studying Computer Science at Austin Community College. She has two pieces forthcoming in mutiny! and has been previously been published in giallo, Ogma Magazine, and FEED. You can find her on Instagram at @creamqueen420 and her work here: https://pcreamer96.wixsite.com/patti.
Eileen Echikson is a self-taught artist based in Philadelphia, and current member of Space 1026. Lately she has been working in small illustrations and animations, and will occasionally plop a Big Idear onto a mural. Eileen has created work for Vans Shoes, World Cafe Live, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her works aim to capture the spirited playfulness of childhood, where bugs and comics rule the world, and time is of no consequence. You can peep some of Eileen’s latest works at www.eileenechikson.com , and follow her on IG @soupywoman.
