Veteran of the IDGAF War
by Laura Anne Whitley
Stevie looked at me as if to say
Can we please just talk about something else
No/I can’t
Now that it’s over I feel like the depressed astronauts,
the soldier who returns home,
The radio host who ran out of things to say
It would be heavy handed to say
A part of me has died
I gave myself a panic attack while I was at a party because I pictured you kissing someone else
Puking up Twisted Tea in the rain
Behind a warehouse at night
The cold indifference of the parking lot
Broke my heart all over again
A few weeks later, in a bar across town
Everyone’s laughing at my jokes
A consolation prize
for the unlovable
is the charisma
that comes with being free
Laura Anne Whitley is a multidisciplinary artist based in Portland, OR. Her mission in life is to create mythology, and her favorite form of intimacy is through confession. She finds inspiration in chaos, nostalgia and The Invisible. She hopes that when people connect with her poems, they’re not connecting to her, but to a part of themselves. Her poetry has appeared in Rejected Lit Magazine and most recently she was published in Dirt Child’s Valentines Day journal. She has performed at Pickathon, All Jane Comedy Festival, The Moth and Something Fest.