Personals

Abstract

Personals Renée Lepreau (bio) after C.D. Wright Some of us never had good births or deaths. They weren'tnice. Cleaved from my natal planet by a surgeon's scalpel at 42 weeksI am told the first words I coupled were maybe & later & stillI do not like to be rushed. At 5 months a needle pierced my skullas I flushed with Kawasaki's disease, & there the ruin lingers. I am taller than you. I pity you. I am at the laundromattrying to see what book you are reading. If it is a good oneI will gaze at you longinglyforever. If it is a bad one you will mansplain it& we will fuck with a borrowed condom in the luggage caron the train to Chicago, drunk from whiskeybought on break in Denver. The conductor will see us& pay no mind. It is any animal's birthright to be pampered & loved. Instead of writing poetry I send you long emails, which slipout of my blue shark body & swim to you seekingrefuge from my hot teeth & mother-hunger. You take custody& never let me see them again You are a chihuahua on my charm bracelet. You won't speak to me. Baby,it's mutual. I have certain needs. I have lostmore than you, the you who has wantedme. I have a predilection for vistas. I like to seea distance. Each of my feet harbors one wart.I have encountered many bodies of water& peed in all of them. Come on darling, obliterate me.Darling, I want you to hold me through the scary parts.Afterwards, we won't talk about it. [End Page 56] Renée Lepreau Renée Lepreau has an MFA in Creative-Writing from UW-Madison. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Seneca Review, TYPO, Exposition Review, and others. Previously she worked as a midwife and lactation consultant. She will be starting a studio art MFA program in the fall of 2023. Copyright © 2023 University of Wisconsin Board of Regents