DUPLEX [I know you think you know what this is...]

Poetry, Connor Donovan

I know you think you know what this is

but I promise that you don’t. No one does.

I promise no one does. Even in the dead of summer

There is hunger & inside is what we mistake

as hunger. Inside is where we mistake ourselves.

Outside is easier. We sit in the sun.

We fit the ease of the sun into our mouths

to hold as much light & life behind our teeth

as our teeth can hold life & light, because when

you wake the only one left hungry at the table

you wake hungry for all that’s left of the table.

Your grief intrudes on the dark til it’s asked to leave,

but it’s dark, your grief is an intruder, so it stays

& you think you know why that is, but no one does.

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Connor Donovan (he/him) is a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a winner of the 2023 Healthline Zine Ekphrasis Contest and a Pushcart Prize Nominee. Find him at connordonovan.carrd.co.