By: Brittany Leitner
With his hands in my mouth he simulates what happened to her
this involved men, so we were talking about it
he says, what man hasn’t tried to kiss a woman and gotten punched in the face?
some women have tried to kiss me, too, he says
brett didn’t have to say he never went to the party, that part he’s lying about
I am lying down when he attempts to cover my mouth as he talks about it
because chrissy’s mouth was covered, so it’s just part of the story
he can’t get to me, but the spit sucker lips me like a
fish and I can only see his eyes
floating above his face mask like buoyed plastic
when I think of them now, they are googly in someone’s hand
and she pulls them deep into the water
letting one go, then the other, until they are
rolling at the surface, going crazy
I am lying down with a man who knows I can’t talk back
and he looks me in the eye and says it is,
however, no doubt clear that something bad
had happened to her.
Brittany Leitner is a poet and journalist living in New York City. Poems from her recent chapbook, "23 Emotions," have won the International Merit Award from the Atlanta Review and are published in No, Dear magazine. Her writing has also appeared in Bustle, Time Out New York, and Elite Daily.