Joy in a parking lot at a gas station in a small town where nothing has ever happened

by Virginia Laurie

Let’s not kid ourselves;
the night is not beautiful
& we look tired as
we feel, stretched like
bubblegum between
fanged mouths

Well, maybe we are
beautiful, but tired of
gear rash, the unalloyed
resentment that eats
our shoulders

Actually, it’s softening now
the light on your words
touching me whole,
stomach full.

Think of that:

Full.

Full full full full full full full

Do you know
what it means
to be really full?
To have a center?
It’s no more starving
& that’s literal.

You make sure I eat.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph.
Trust me when I say it means
more to me than “I love you,”

You keep my stomach full

Virginia Laurie is an undergraduate student whose work has been featured in Apricity Magazine, South Florida Poetry Journal, Phantom Kangaroo, Cathexis Northwest Press and more. virginialaurie.com

Photo by Jill Evans on Pexels.com.