Sweet Dreams, Hannah Elizabeth High

The helicopter noise your car makes

when you open the windows on the highway,

The static on the radio,

The ringing in your ears.

Your lies that drip from your mouth like tar.

 

The tag on the inside of your underwear,

The hangnail ripped off your thumb,

The spot you just keep biting

on the inside of your cheek.

Your hands on my body after they touched hers.

 

The chunky milk sliding down your throat,

The first shot of liquor at 16

(sipped),

The orange juice after brushing your teeth.

Your tongue—it tastes like her again.

 

The skunk lurking through your neighborhood,

The dog shit tracked through the house,

The smokestacks on the New Jersey turnpike.

Your cologne can’t cover up her perfume.

 

And every time I close my eyes,

         I see our future slip away,

but I’m used to bad things.

About the Author

Ella Luzzi · Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Ella Luzzi is an aspiring writer and a recent graduate from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She double-majored in English and Professional Writing and had two minors: Public Relations and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Luzzi’s poetry has previously been published in Shoofly Literary Magazine and Essence Fine Arts and Literary Magazine and was a finalist in the 2018 EAPSU Poetry Contest. “Bad Things” first appeared in Shoofly Review. 

About the Artist

Hannah Elizabeth High · Reading Area Community College

“Sweet Dreams” first appeared in Legacy.