perhappened mag
issue 8: LOVERS
the kiss counts as queer
even though we were
pretending to be dogs
at the time
CATHERINE WEISS
because I said so & because childhood happens on the reverse of the moon
& what is gayer than the moon says I & I grew up wanting to breathe air
and/or underwater yet I never bothered to look really look-look you know
at all the stars I mean opportunities I mean whatever is the opposite of jellyfish
dehydrating on the beach & so when your life is wrapping up will you have
named every kiss after the first one or will you forget to count that one at all
like I know it happened-happened but I also know sometimes people only get to
hold hands in a dream you both have at the same time & if you kiss enough
girls you turn into a planet & I only kissed three so call me Nix or don’t call me
anything & I guess the point was I was having puppies & I also know the point
was actually the kissing & it was only a game but if a kiss isn’t play do I want it
& what is gayer than the moon says I & I grew up wanting to breathe air
and/or underwater yet I never bothered to look really look-look you know
at all the stars I mean opportunities I mean whatever is the opposite of jellyfish
dehydrating on the beach & so when your life is wrapping up will you have
named every kiss after the first one or will you forget to count that one at all
like I know it happened-happened but I also know sometimes people only get to
hold hands in a dream you both have at the same time & if you kiss enough
girls you turn into a planet & I only kissed three so call me Nix or don’t call me
anything & I guess the point was I was having puppies & I also know the point
was actually the kissing & it was only a game but if a kiss isn’t play do I want it
Catherine Weiss is a poet and artist from Maine. Their poetry has been published (or is forthcoming) in Tinderbox, Up the Staircase Quarterly, Fugue, Birdcoat, Bodega, petrichor, Counterclock, Freezeray, and elsewhere. Catherine was the 2017 Grand Slam Champion of Northampton Poetry and has competed at the National Poetry Slam, the Individual World Poetry Slam, and the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Their manuscript “unlove” was selected as a finalist in the 2019 Button Poetry Chapbook Contest. More at catherineweiss.com.