*dedicated to Jean Assy
Because you can’t keep everything,
only some things
you choose to keep.
Shoplifting includes other goods-
undamaged,
untouched,
pristine;
thoughts of coins
clandestinely diving
sequentially;
capitalist pebbles
drippity-droppingly
free falling at zero gravity
into the cashier’s hand-
as barters, unions, and markets
merge with spendings, earnings, and other
cyclicalities that render the
nature of this arrangement
possible;
a camaraderie-
fatal commitment
to non-commitment
wearing down the
contract
predecessors once trodded upon
years ago, on that yellow brick road.
I begin pondering how I have never once loved
because I could,
but only because I could not,
and grab our conspiratorial eggplants,
marxist mangos,
imperial broccolis,
and sympathetically, soft, small, supple grapes,
then proceed to walk out of the produce store.
You won’t ask me to.
Author Bio:
Jessy Bissal is a 24 year-old Armenian Lebanese currently living in Lebanon. She holds a BA and an MA in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing.
At present, She is a University Instructor, teaching English at various institutions in Lebanon. Poetry is something she does on the side. She never has, nor ever will make poetry her 'job' because if she were ever to do that, she feels she would have tainted the one release that brings her such joy in her spare time. That said, finding the time to write is easy for Jessy, because she never forces herself to sit down and write; she writes when the words suffocate her and slither their anaconda-body around her neck, pull tightly against her lungs and force her to spit them out. She loves sharing her poems so readers can see the world through her eyes, feelings, and perceptions.
Because you can’t keep everything,
only some things
you choose to keep.
Shoplifting includes other goods-
undamaged,
untouched,
pristine;
thoughts of coins
clandestinely diving
sequentially;
capitalist pebbles
drippity-droppingly
free falling at zero gravity
into the cashier’s hand-
as barters, unions, and markets
merge with spendings, earnings, and other
cyclicalities that render the
nature of this arrangement
possible;
a camaraderie-
fatal commitment
to non-commitment
wearing down the
contract
predecessors once trodded upon
years ago, on that yellow brick road.
I begin pondering how I have never once loved
because I could,
but only because I could not,
and grab our conspiratorial eggplants,
marxist mangos,
imperial broccolis,
and sympathetically, soft, small, supple grapes,
then proceed to walk out of the produce store.
You won’t ask me to.
Author Bio:
Jessy Bissal is a 24 year-old Armenian Lebanese currently living in Lebanon. She holds a BA and an MA in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing.
At present, She is a University Instructor, teaching English at various institutions in Lebanon. Poetry is something she does on the side. She never has, nor ever will make poetry her 'job' because if she were ever to do that, she feels she would have tainted the one release that brings her such joy in her spare time. That said, finding the time to write is easy for Jessy, because she never forces herself to sit down and write; she writes when the words suffocate her and slither their anaconda-body around her neck, pull tightly against her lungs and force her to spit them out. She loves sharing her poems so readers can see the world through her eyes, feelings, and perceptions.
RSS Feed