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Writer's pictureMarías at Sampaguitas

2 Poems by Lake Vargas


2019

My kiss skids off your lips. You have this habit of always enfolding me, rocking me back

and forth, your fists dormant

on my back but still clutching

the cloth. I’ve never stepped


into waters like these, but now

I’m knee-high, letting the liquid

laminate me. Narcissus tilts

towards his reflection but you

are nothing like me and I am

nothing like you which means

something good. In the rain

Chrissy Teigen’s sequin gown

is glinting. I don’t have cable

but your fingers are soft pelts

of hail on my arm. I change

the channel from a family

passing casseroles around

to another watching television.



Today Tomorrow Next Week

After the first time I saw you I came home to a mouse,

a thick gray line on the trap.


I didn’t cry. Instead, I crept

into the shower and closed

my eyes, thinking of the syrup


in yours. Each drop parachuted

down on me as I thought maybe

I shouldn’t see you anymore;


there are buildings collapsing

in bellows of crashing plaster,

rivers driving their knifed bodies


through canyons, and oceans

enfolding everything at the end.

The mouse chirped to nothing.


Then, the neighbors who share

a wall with me pressed the 6

button on their blender. I bit


my lips down on my smile,

wondering if you would touch

me but knowing we have time.




Lake Vargas is a regular contributor at Royal Rose Magazine. She primarily writes poetry and creative non-fiction. Her work has been published by Empty Mirror, The Cerurove, and Homology Lit, among others. She tweets at @lakewrites. More of her work can be found on her Tumblr, @stonemattress.


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