We’ll Get Along…If You Like Matcha
tea is gay / they said / when i was twelve / these shirtless boys who wrapped their hands over each other’s shoulders / sweaty / after they’d tackled & collapsed over each other playing football / aspirational Ronaldos / while i watched & guarded the goal / did their breaths feel warm in those moments / when they grabbed each other by the collar? / i know that if i told them today / i’m writing about you all as boys / or about using the term boys / they’d tackle me / so / when you asked me / through that Hinge prompt / if i liked matcha / i said no / fuck that / i prefer coffee / & will always do / maybe that’s why i’m marrying you / today / sorry if i stammer / boys don’t say stuff like i love you / those same boys had told me / but i will love you forever / pretty woman / you gorgeous specimen of humanity / you bless me / i wish to worship you / is that alright to say / as a man?
If My Grandmother Had Wheels, You Would Have a Personality Beyond Your Looks
it’s not that i hate your moustache / or beard / sprawled around your double chin / that you’ve put concealer on / it’s not that i hate how they irritate my cheeks when we kiss / or when you talk about last night / you in a club with your friends / getting hit on by eight men / all taller than me / as you pointed out / the hair on your face moves / like the stuffed dinosaur you sleep with every night / it was a gift from your dead mom, right? / you told me about it for hours / & cried / i wanted to give you my shoulder / but you’d kissed another boy the day before / after promising me you wouldn’t / ever / was it still love if you never said it? / was it still love if it took you eight months to ask me about my day? / i wonder what it meant when i replied fine / all you cared to ask about after / was how your eyelashes looked / now that you’d waxed your upper lip / and your jaw / and your nose / because a Kylie Jenner video inspired you / for a glow up
Devarya Singhania (he/him) is a writer from India. His poems appear across Defenestration Magazine, Down in the Dirt, Poems India and elsewhere.
