MOLLY GORELICK

Gym, Tan, Laundry

In America, I’ve only had two thoughts and they’re both secrets, little pearls stuffed in shells stuffed in the dumb expanse of the ocean. The peacemaker walks through sand, jungle, desert, prairie just to become earth herself. Lump and pleather, sweat soaking into artificial fabrics in which I don’t think I could do a squat thrust. I can appreciate your literacy while acknowledging the competence of my own. If I love you, I’ll become literate in any language. Caricature of unconditional love. What would that look like on the boardwalk? An exposed midriff can either be meaningful or American. Tell me I’m fabulous! Couldn’t anyone technically move into hospice? Fondle the cough and rotate. Painted hermit crab shell, I’ll make myself at home anywhere.

Molly Gorelick lives and writes in Philadelphia. Her online chapbook Ariana Grande Accompanies Me to My Ovarian Cystectomy and Slips Me Some Extra Codeine was published by Metatron Press in 2024. She is the person behind the A Year in Philadelphia community archive project (ayearinphilly.com) and you can find her at @mollygmollygmollyg on Instagram.