We were never in love.

We waited sober until closing time, snagged
a couple tall boys at last

Issue 3

https://manyworlds.place/issue-3/joshua-zeitler/

by Joshua Zeitler

Originally published in Dark Onus Lit

Note: This work is best viewed on a widescreen device.


We waited sober until closing time, snagged
a couple tall boys at last

call. Shot whiskey once the door was locked
while wiping tables, mopping floors.

                        We turned the lights off & did a line
                        of adderall on the bar

                right under the camera’s
                nose we were

                                        in love

        I mean in the dark.

                                        We got in his car sipped
                                        road beers roaring

                                                                out of town
                                                                past the plant

where the old chemicals
spilled, breaking the law

                                        felt good. At the cemetery,
                                        only stumbling a little

                                circling the graves, we talked
                                about growing up, how we couldn’t

                        walk barefoot on the grass. Watched birds
                        drop dead from the sky traced

the moon with our tongues
in each others’ mouths we were in love

                                                                I mean

                                        in a cemetery.

We pressed
our hips

                together we touched
                carefully, publicly, we fled

                                                                to my place when the sun peaked out.
                                                                We played games

                                        with our bodies
                                        in bed we echoed the stray cats’ howls

                        we were
                        in love

                                                                        I mean

                                        we were only trying

                                                                                not to sleep.


Joshua Zeitler is a queer, nonbinary writer based in rural Michigan. They received an MFA in poetry from Alma College, and their work has appeared or is forthcoming in Stanchion, Cutthroat, Black Fox, and others.