Sonnet as list of things to do with your partner during the summer instead of having sex

Eat pulpy oranges and stare at a cacophony 
of punk-haired Steller's jays across the street; finally
fold laundry; stick ‘n poke off-center spades; lose 
Ebay bid wars over antique chicken statues; lay itching 
on unmowed lawn; talk about adopting calico cats 
or kids; screech back at Brood 7 cicadas; get naked 
and shampoo so long lather fluffs and sloughs off 
rough elbows; blow bought-back bottle cash
on boba; learn to knit; roadtrip; unfurl red sleeping
bags under red sky; patch thigh-worn jeans; 
run thumbs across hatched stretch marks; skip ahead 
to aftercare: trade trashed carbon and scroll on Tiktok 
with sunk knees rolling together and leg hair loosely knotting 
and unknotting like forked tree branches in strong wind.

Zoe Reay-Ellers

Zoe Reay-Ellers (She/Her) is the proud EIC of the best dish soap-themed mag worldwide. She owns 20 plants and is currently an undergraduate student at Cornell. Her work has appeared in a number of places, including Stone Circle Review, HAD, Ghost City Review, and ALOCASIA. You can find her on twitter and bluesky @zreayellers.

Next
Next

Band Boy