“mountain dew commercial disguised as a love poem” by matthew olzmann
Here’s what I’ve got, the reasons why our marriage
might work: Because you wear pink but write poems
about bullets and gravestones. Because you yell
at your keys when you lose them, and laugh,
loudly, at your own jokes. Because you can hold a pistol,
gut a pig. Because you memorize songs, even commercials
from thirty years back and sing them when vacuuming.
You have soft hands. Because when we moved, the contents
of what you packed were written inside the boxes.
Because you think swans are overrated.
Because you drove me to the train station. You drove me
to Minneapolis. You drove me to Providence.
Because you underline everything you read, and circle
the things you think are important, and put stars next
to the things you think I should think are important,
and write notes in the margins about all the people
you’re mad at and my name almost never appears there.
Because you make that pork recipe you found
in the Frida Khalo Cookbook. Because when you read
that essay about Rilke, you underlined the whole thing
except the part where Rilke says love means to deny the self
and to be consumed in flames. Because when the lights
are off, the curtains drawn, and an additional sheet is nailed
over the windows, you still believe someone outside
can see you. And one day five summers ago,
when you couldn’t put gas in your car, when your fridge
was so empty—not even leftovers or condiments—
there was a single twenty-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew,
which you paid for with your last damn dime
because you once overheard me say that I liked it.
Art by YT Tommy Lee
Recommended listening: Spectre - Radiohead Lazarus - David Bowie Break The Chain - Ultimate Painting The Ragtime Gals: "SexyBack" (w/ Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake)
Links of the Day: The loveliest Instagram profile - Cat_137 Japan's Train Station Stamps Best of Luck: A brief introduction to death What Happens When Homes Have No Books Heart shaped love letters This fake swimming pool messes with your mind The Women Of Gustav Klimt And Egon Schiele's Paintings (As of today, it's been 350 days of sending out this goddamned lovely newsletter, that has helped me not only connect to all the like-minded subscribers who have gotten in touch but also to myself and to beauty, which has presented itself in a myriad of shapes and sizes. :) Thank you, for helping me get here. 15 more to complete a year. Yay! Also, there's a fun Facebook page for The Alipore Post with a whole bunch of extra links and GIFs. So do check it out. Have a lovely day! Long live the Internet!)