Girls Carrying Shit

Ben Niespodziany

for Lemmy Ya’akova, after @girlscarryingshit

I miss holding

all at once

cigarettes and knives

and joints and lighters

and tiny succulents

and blunts

and beer and ice

cream and paint

cans and soda cans

in my two

fumbling hands

and standing

so clumsily

as if someone

might take

a picture

of me holding

all this shit

and you

on your balcony

yelling down

at me

in your yard

as the

sea breeze

reaches my nostrils

and I feel like heaven

is in reach today you

saying the door’s

unlocked

you asking me

if I need a hand

asking me

what the hell

I’m doing.

Ben Niespodziany is a Chicago-based writer. His debut poetry collection was released in 2022 through Okay Donkey and his novella of connected microfictions is out now with X-R-A-Y. You can find more at neonpajamas.com.