I walk down the road five minutes
to get the good mandarins
which are also the cheap mandarins
they’re small and there’s an air pocket
between the pith so the skin
gives way beneath my thumb
with a satisfying pop
the pressure of perfection
is as bad for us as unsellable fruit

Mid-sunrise I’m out in the neighbourhood
assigning emotions to seagulls
furtively circling pastry crumbs
down the left side of Surrey St
you know it’s about to get gnarly
when the lichen is fused with the asphalt
like the way I can see change
in the periphery of my screen

There’s the important things in life:
when the moon is on fire and you catch it
cresting the peninsula edge
what wouldn’t be seen
but for a well-timed spliff
feels closer when it’s yellow

We’re all out here being intimately connected to one another
misunderstanding limerence and gaslighting
the truth
like crystals is contagious
spreads
’til everything has gone homogenous

I’m stuck scrolling tiktok
rubbing dropped gravy into my skin like moisturiser
                                                                                                            too lazy to get a tissue

Image: Meg Jenson