Manhattan Love

By BRIGIT KELLY YOUNG

the stars are dust on gray carpet
unvacuumed
and a man with a newspaper beret
makes a wish on a rat

this city
will one day be ruled by fish
silent as the tombstone of myths
this girl with the red shoes
will one day
have bunions
and our necks that crane
to look for stars
like the insane do
gazing for new endings
in the fated
will one day
bend together
like kissing swans
and you’ll love me
through this wishy washy
star-blind
borough

 

Brigit Kelly Young’s poetry and fiction have appeared in journals that include Gargoyle MagazineDrunken Boat MagazineThe North American ReviewEclectica MagazineMidwestern Gothic and 2 River View.

From the beginning, The Common has brought you transportive writing and exciting new voices. We are committed to supporting writers and maintaining free, unrestricted access to our website, but we can’t do it without you. Become an integral part of our global community of readers and writers by donating today. No amount is too small. Thank you!

Manhattan Love

Related Posts

Baileys Harbor Shoreline

On the Shores of Baileys Harbor

BEN TAMBURRI
The beaches of Baileys Harbor are for birds, too pebbly and coarse to relax on. The water is cold, and the waves break at your ankles.

Two children kneel on a large rock surface, large grey boulders and a forest of trees visible in the distance.

The Garden of the Gods

ELI RODRIGUEZ FIELDER
The gods must have been giant children squeezing drip sandcastles from their palms, back when this land was at the edge of a sea. This used to be a mouth, I say. It feels impossible that this peculiar landscape should suddenly emerge among farms and Dairy Queens.

Long wooden table with chairs. Plants in the background.

Four Ways of Setting the Table

CLARA CHIU
We are holding the edges of the fabric, / throwing the center into the air. / & even in dusk this cloth / billowing over our heads / makes a souvenir of home: / mother & child in snowglobe. / Yet we are warm here, beneath / this dome, & what light slips through / drapes the dining room white.