2 Poems by Erin Sullivan

satan’s on our breath

breathe in the fumes
car exhaust so monoxide sweet
their respect is contingent
on our dress and our abstinence
but satan’s on our breath

tim curry in a thong
peers under the bathroom stall
another beast to slay with st. peter’s sword
(the sword is a gun)
will they only feel safe with us dead?

a specter, we’re tired
a post-modern monster
the rules are made up
but they still matter
oh god do they matter
they open you with handsaws

breath deep the devil’s drink
you’ve never touched for fear
of an excuse, of sober thoughts
cracked open like chilean pyura
wringing from the stone
your poisoned blood, an honesty
of red pulsing under grey
a secret truth: yours, sacred
whispered but never spoken
for the cracking does the killing
you can not live in open air
gasping for the devil,
the salt, the sea

— — — — — —
Erin Sullivan is a trans woman from southern NJ. She graduated with a B.A. in Creative Writing from Susquehanna University in 2012. She keeps putting off the paperwork for selling her soul. Can be found online at http://erintoknow.tumblr.com. This is her first published work.