June Gehringer

HELLO HERE IS A POEM

 

hello here is a poem i
hope you love it
more than me

 

someday i will die but before that i
want to go on tinder

 

there are a finite number of minutes
left in my life and i
want to spend at least ten of them on tinder

 

i think
you should love me more
than i love me more
than i love the idea of you
loving me more than you
do now

 

if movies about dogs have taught me anything
it is the redemptive power of loving
something that is going to die.

 

 

 

I LOVE YOU IT LOOKS LIKE RAIN

 

i just saw a play so i am writing a poem because
i don’t want the rest of life.

 

the only thing i feel like doing is telling
you i love you.

 

i want to tell you i love you while eating a mcflurry.

 

i want to tell you i love you on top of a mountain
while eating a mcflurry.

 

i want to tell you i love you while eating a mcflurry
before i die.

 

did you know that in ireland a mcflurry costs 2.20 euros?
a plane ticket home costs approximately 384 irish mcflurrys.

 

i can’t afford either, but
i love you

 

so much that i’d never buy another mcflurry if i could tell you

i love you
in person
while eating a mcflurry.

 

 

 

BURN DOWN THE INTERNET AND PLANT FLOWERS WHERE IT USED TO BE

 

My ex babysits this kid who
has trouble with the words “you”
and “I”. When he is scared, and just
wants someone
to be with him, when he wants you
to hold him until he falls asleep,
he pleads:
“hold you, hold you, hold you,”
until you do.

 

I’m not sure how much of
a poem it makes, but I want
to be
like that boy.

 

---

June Gehringer is a mixed-race trans poet from Omaha, Nebraska. They currently live in New Orleans. Their work has appeared in Paper Darts, Spy Kids Review, Xavier Review, and elsewhere. They tweet @josephgehringer and they love you, like, a lot.

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