perhappened mag
issue 3: HEATWAVE
persephone contemplates
the heat at a middle-
georgia rest area
NATALIE ELEANOR PATTERSON
God, but the air is thick
with water
and a riot of flies.
I’m not used to all
this nowhere, my sight
bright as yellow lines,
and the sudden darkness
of the women’s restroom
makes me tremble.
Some places only exist
to be passed through
like a curtain
or a ghost or
you get the idea.
Brief explosions
of strawberries
light up the sides
of the road,
three old Southern women
waving me down
like a lost bird.
They seem almost frantic,
sweat congealing
on their brows,
eyes flashing red
in the sun. This is the only
fruit you should eat.
Old women are easy
to laugh at, I think.
But where was I?
I open the driver’s
side door again to
keep on, keep on
going. Oh,
yeah. It’s hot as hell
down here.
with water
and a riot of flies.
I’m not used to all
this nowhere, my sight
bright as yellow lines,
and the sudden darkness
of the women’s restroom
makes me tremble.
Some places only exist
to be passed through
like a curtain
or a ghost or
you get the idea.
Brief explosions
of strawberries
light up the sides
of the road,
three old Southern women
waving me down
like a lost bird.
They seem almost frantic,
sweat congealing
on their brows,
eyes flashing red
in the sun. This is the only
fruit you should eat.
Old women are easy
to laugh at, I think.
But where was I?
I open the driver’s
side door again to
keep on, keep on
going. Oh,
yeah. It’s hot as hell
down here.
Natalie Eleanor Patterson is a half-Cuban femme lesbian poet from Georgia working on her BA in English and Creative Writing. Most recently, she has work featured in Sinister Wisdom and Hunger Mountain. She’s the assistant editor of Jacar Press and can be found on Twitter @natalieepatt or at poetnatalie.com.