Stranger does what stranger needs
And we release the atoms of our fruits
And are burdened by catastrophe but set apart by misery
Life is meaningless when we make it and we gather its fruit
When we let it
I suck the juice dry
I eat the milk clean
I tame myself
To reward myself
I am never what I seem
I am a future being
Worthy of this,
Of you
but of no one
Short of me
Stranger does what stranger needs
And I need a me to do to you what you said you’d do to me
Does the quiet bird sing?
Am I as boring as i think?
am I falling in the woods?
I paint Satan with silk
I can’t help myself
There is glitter from my tears
But no one hears who I could have been
Just what I should have been
I want to do less
And learn more
I claim nothing,
But,
Everything
Darling, you’re a star, they say
But I never mattered anyway
Stranger does what stranger needs
I am sitting on this pedestal,
Stalking the fruits of no one’s labor
I am rounding up the sins
I am creating a handbook of calamities
Capitalism
The War
That text message you never sent
And sweetie when you wear that dress,
You make a mean girl cry
And a bad boy die
I want to do less
And learn more
I claim nothing
But to own you
But to bestow upon you,
My sins
Stranger does what stranger needs
And I am wavering too thin.
Emily Present is a poet from New York City currently based in Brooklyn. She is co-founder and editor of the online literary and arts magazine, GlitterMOB. She also serves as a creative writing mentor for the inspiring arts organization, Girls Write Now.