He said eat a cat or breakfast
He said bigger beautiful same thing
He said how dare you love isn’t a reason
He said you stay
He said drink my tears I don’t have any
He said I did it for you your love is broken
He said here’s some gas money
He said here’s a fig your vagina is tight
He said flowers
He said don’t let them drown
He said there’s darkness inside you it isn’t me
He said I’ll pay you to quit
He said five dollars less you won’t kill the bees
He said I have guns in the house don’t snoop
He said you will remember me but how
He said it’s my house you just have a key
He said you’re the bed I’m in
He said I’m not angry anymore
He said I’m losing are you
He said less questions it’s hard to talk
He said you’re using me I don’t know how
He said to live love is pain
He said the shower is dirty
He said it didn’t used to be this way
He said I taped it up the roaches came out
He said I know you’re tired let’s recess
He said here’s some aspirin
He said no no that’s too much
He said come on here’s a drawer climb in
Crystal Stone is the author of two collections of poetry, Knock-Off Monarch (Dawn Valley 2018) and All the Places I Wish I Died (CLASH 2021). Her poetry has previously appeared or is forthcoming in The Threepenny Review, The Hopkins Review, Salamander, Poetry Daily, Writers Resist, and many others. She is an MFA candidate at Iowa State University, formerly served as a poetry editor for Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment and gave a TEDx talk entitled “The Transformative Power of Poetry” in April 2018. You can find her on Twitter @justlikeastone8, on Instagram @justlikeastone, or at her website www.crystalbstone.com.
Royal Rose 