I bear a Sysiphean curse by Francesca Tangreti
I bear a Sysiphean curse, blood
Red in color, a pomegranate artery, missing seeds are
Teeth bared like October corn or else a
Knuckle sandwich fit to feed two dozen, I bear a
Curse, I love, I love, I always love first.
Most and last, longest and worst.
Hi, you say. I love you. How are you? Good, I love you.
I am a jam jar, all I hold is saccharine but smushed, take and
Eat like I am Christ Messiah savior-maker and good-giver, I love you.
Isn’t that your prophet? Is it
Love, that Tinker-Bell shake of glitter
Potent enough to skim the ceiling fan?
I bear a curse, a brutal curse, and
You, and you, and you, and you, and you, Hi, I love you, you know
I love you. Love is the bird cage and I am
The song, unsung. I meet you. I love you. I see you. I love you.
I am cupped palms: a miracle of tenderness.
You are pursed lips: take me up, take me down, let me curl in the
Dust-streaked bowel of your body, the place
Grace goes to die. Let me find it and make a plot, let you
Be last. Hi, I love you. I bear a curse.
december 14th, 2021Francesca Tangreti is studying English and Creative Writing at Rutgers University where they also sing in choirs and spend hours admiring the intricacies of bagels and crunchy peanut butter. They are previously published in mags such as the winnow magazine, Feed, and The Writers House Review, and won the Rutgers Faculty Choice Award for Essay. They very much love their big drooling dog named Monty.