By: Olivia Pierce
flash photography
here you are, woman
the first moment of the way things were supposed to be
painted canvas backdrop
lipstick imprint on a coffee cup, you
can’t afford to put honey in your tea
but you’re gonna be famous,
you’re in the studio, he tells you
just like they always tell you,
how you look like that old movie star
you’ve got a thousand dollar smile
with lint in your pockets
you tell them you’re from the Midwest,
they can’t believe it
you quit your job you broke your lease
you moved a million miles away
hollywood makeup mirror, you can use that
to freshen up
look at that lipstick imprint
on that empty cup,
can you afford to put honey in your tea?
you, the walking ribcage, what a great look
you’ve got the poise of poverty
the moment is finally here just like you always
thought it’d be
can you look into the lens &
imagine you’re about to kiss someone
in a punk rock club?
because you give them that vibe, yeah
you give them that feeling when the camera flash
you’ve got that glamour, in this dirty room
you’ve got all the raucousness and magnetism
of all those dirty bands
yeah, a punk rock club:
and you think about when you saw that couple
kissing, laughing in the corner
and the extended, tattooed arm
of the bartender
speaking to them, but looking at you
and now the shutter clicks
and now you hear him again
he says: pull it back, guys it’s fleeting.
lockjaw
for years, my world subsisted on what if and I had asked so much so often
that now in each beat between a question and my jaw working some response the answer is always your name.
Olivia Pierce is a 26-year-old woman from Michigan living in New York City. She has a performing arts degree and is a theatre and film actress in addition to being a poet. She also enjoys visual art and sewing. She is passionate about punk rock, alternative and vintage fashion, taking care of animals. She has only recently began to submit her writing; this is her first publication to go live. She will also be published in Silver Needle Press' fall print issue. “flash photography: American sociologist Charles Cooley once said something like, "I am not what I think I am; I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am." This poem is a good example of this approach to identity. This poem came from a series of racing thoughts after having to spend a few hours with a complete stranger who told me all about myself. lockjaw: This poem is short because it has to be. If I were to say everything there was to say on the subject matter, it would never be finished. I would die writing it. I suppose I am trying to make the reader believe that, though I can't tell them everything, it was still important. The story is over, but its phantom still floats around in my head every day, filling all the little moments between moments.”