Poetry by Francesca Kritikos

Consent is an Open Mouth

I only search for what I know
I won’t find

Wash my hands
then drink the water

I used to watch my body
beneath tires

My meat wants so badly
to be warm

It burns
itself

I loved you for ten years
then stopped

I Need You Cruel

I need you cruel
like shapewear

I need you
now

but you’re late
like money

I need you inside me
hard

and silent
like plastic

Like a deficit
I need you

to stop me
from living

I need you desperate
to keep me

alive

Plastic is the Least Resource-Intensive Material

I’m not a liar
but I feel like one

Five vibrators under my bed,
three texts from you unread

I don’t use things up
before I throw them out

Blue mold on bread,
the bruises on my legs

One hole inside me
dead before you filled it

Francesca Kritikos

IG: @fmkrit