dance parties (a non-ode)
Anoushka Kumar
overpriced italian, grease sinking into paper plated-
raves; this is our time. fingers scatter up flaking plaster
& there is a certain affinity for alkaline togetherness:
a young- adulted habit bathed in neon lights or
three hours spread up and over spray paint.
reflections crack and flail underneath indie pop blaring
from bootleg speakers, this ensnaring symphony
quells a reverb of untouched memories.
​
carbonated fizz bubbles up into this smoke-
signaled aura. a tango a millisecond
burdens dissolve like sugar, saturated.
interlude: alcoves hold ganache topped up with tangerine & guilt
frosting and cassette-tape friendships. pedestal
crashes onto a woodencrusted mossy grief
late night intersections + car pool rides (this night
will break bonds, and make them)
12 am is when parallel femininity bids goodbye to
the drifting seafoam of vommed // up abrasive nail-paint
the fly-catcher returns once more, [he came with the dusk]
buzzing dawn stirs up a final polaroid recollection.
Anoushka Kumar (she/her) is a student and writer from India, with work forthcoming or published in the Heritage Review, the Bitter Fruit Review, Kalopsia Lit, Ayaskala and elsewhere. She is also on the editorial team of Cathartic Lit, Gossamer Lit and the Interstellar Review. When not writing, she can be found listening to Phoebe Bridgers, crying over poetry, and debating the queerness of complex female characters.