"Sapphics II" by Caitlyn Alario

Caitlyn Alario is a queer poet from Southern California. She received an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and is currently a Ph.D. student and Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in MORIA, Third Coast, and elsewhere. ​

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​SAPPHICS II


warm night in the athens apartment. each night
beer bottles & nail polish on the balcony.
slow wind. each glass container almost empty.
     the square sounds open,
 
full. lo fi from our roommate’s laptop. m says
she likes mythos better & it’s on the list
for tomorrow. all the greek beers taste like stale
     piss on my new tongue.
 
plates in the sink. mismatched glasses. i don’t think
too much about how our nights have been ending.
m coming home from a hookup & scuttling
     into my bed, drunk                     
 
breath & quick kisses. slips in & out the door.
on the metro i try to ask how she feels.
she tells the others i might be lesbian.
     i think she was cruel
 
accidentally. we all have ex boyfriends
back home. sex with mine was good, but he liked to
pin my shoulders to the ground when i thought we
     were playing. i act
 
like i know all the secrets. like humming when
he’s in your mouth. like french fries cure hangovers.
like girls can kiss in dark corners at parties
     & kiss after too.