Rita Mookerjee

The Fruit Fries Will Come

if you don’t empty the wine glass at her

bedside, so make sure to do that. Then wipe

off the hand mirror. Unroll the bills & pull

them taut against the edge of the desk. If

they don’t straighten, fan them out & tuck

them under the heaviest book in the room

which in this case is 50 Shades. Tilt the pill

bottles toward the light    ;    guesstimate

the remaining Xanax like you’ll win a prize if

you get the number right. Shout at the man yawning

on your couch beneath fast food wrappings. Try

to get his name in case he sold Grace some bad

shit. Remove the colossus of pastel raver bracelets

from her wrists. Don’t gawk at the cuts beneath.

Set an alarm on your phone to repeat every fifteen

minutes. Consider a nap on her oversized teddy bear

so you can reach up & check her pulse from the floor.

—————

Rita Mookerjee is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Worcester State University. She is the winner of the 2023 Steel Toe Books Poetry Award and the author of False Offering (JackLeg Press). Her poems can be found in CALYX, Copper Nickel, Poet Lore, New Orleans Review, and the Offing.