top of page

"Prozac Ocean" & "I Remember the Dolphin Tattoo On Your Shoulder Blade" by Joe Barca


Prozac Ocean 


the land is too small 

people tend to crowd


the tide speaks to me 

in rhythmic intonations


I spend time with 

fulmars, gulls, and wrens

                                        

the shore is my trap door  

my escape is the Atlantic

                                        

I swim in a night fever

green particles bend

                                        

currents shift

minnows splinter

                                       

I move beyond the red buoy 

running out of breaths

                                       

slip through a hole

in the salt mattress



I Remember the Dolphin Tattoo On Your Shoulder Blade


you trespass in my dreams / once again I build / a seawall / block you / out / I scream  / you flow from / the  pores of my metaphors / I am a gutted ghost / you  inhabit these veins / I am the unwilling host / I purge / your treasonous body  from my universe / you are love’s inverse / every plan we had a crash test dummy /every reflection a story  rewritten /every dashed hope  a Taylor Swift song / you crush  my love / in your glove  compartment / you’re gone / I rip  the hinges off  the door / you’re light / I’m wrong / a splintered river / misses the ocean/coffee is no substitute / I’ve washed the duvet/ trashed the pillowcase / sweat fades / salt remains





Comments


bottom of page