ANNIE ❋ Francesca Kritikos

we cut ourselves open and
replaced our sulphurous citydirt blood with
cheap ice cream and cigarettes we smoked
sitting by the river that smells like shit
when it rains too much
trying to shine like the hot silver
tray of perfumes next to your
winterflesh pink bed we laid on and
took our clothes off
in front of open windows because
we were two girls
trying to be more than two girls
and ending up with cemetery sunburns
and soft diner food bellies
and uneven uncareful boyhand imprints
around our throats almost as unsteady
as our hands when we tried to paint
ourselves into masterpieces, two Virgin Marys in
the cold damp basement of my house,
queens on a broken pullout couch jagged mattress
springs leaving holes in our back where
we wanted angel wings to go, dad yelling
at me for stealing a beer from the fridge
while you brushed your hair with the
precision i used to apply red lipstick
just to get it smudged on the edge of a bottle
and when we left parties early together
we felt like god walking around Chicago downtown
at 2am, the street an altar and our high heels
bridging the gap between heaven and earth
and we’d listen, silent and empty as church
for the way men called at us
with their cigarillo smoke signals
crying from their islands alone for us
we’d never admit it, annie
but it felt like worsh