Prose & Cons

A poem by Anna Isachenko

Very pale white male and female standing on text books (serving as platforms) in middle of stage with all of the lights on. Male dressed in jeans, grey Polo, brown leather jacket, red scarf, brown loafers and hair slicked back with a lot of hair gel. Female dressed in skinny jeans, yellow Polo with gray argyle sweater over it, yellow high heels, brown leather purse and a lot of bold face make up. Male and female very still-straight posture, one arm in front of them, plain faces. The lights start to turn off (not at the same time), leaving a spotlight on the two mannequins. Movements are very stiff and rigid.

When I was 12 I walked into my living room at the exact moment my sister stepped off a chair. The rope snapped up around her chin like headgear. She broke three of her teeth when her jaw hit the edge of my mother’s antique trunk.
“Are you alright?”

Our privacy’s been cooked, our faces have been booked, our right are overlooked, my space has been took.

You choose to count every second between your last touch & the next one or else desire would overwhelm Still your body craves connection as…

Moira Berg breathed in. Half-asleep. The air was a thin waft of mustard. There was a memory there, cloyingly attached to the smell. She had…

I hold the plastic button, click I’m so excited, it’s finally here It’s the first photograph we’ve had together since I was six… The flash…

Always igniting her face was a smile so big, so bright, so knowing. The world was at her feet, and her feet were in the…

Trying any new kind of drug is like going on a blind date: It can either go fairy-tale borderline amazing, or “I really want to end my life right about now.” The latter would describe a particularly horrendous experience I had on one dark and cold Halloween night.

Guys are often underestimated when it comes to sex, degraded to the point that girls think we’re just going through the motions. Granted, some guys do, but other guys seek to please. There’s a lot of pressure to perform, and maybe that’s what got to me.