According to Science by Kenzie Allen | Really System: Issue Eight

According to Science

Kenzie Allen

According to Science, a beautiful girl
can expect to get hit on up to three times
an hour. According to this bar
I've got to get some better looking
sweaters. Or, conversely, I'm so appealing
that like the mauvest of black holes,
I am irresistibly repulsive. All mouth
and, again, the wrong shade of lipstick,
a shimmer gloss instead of a matte,
feathered from the day, not a perfect
red bulls-eye. It's two hours 'til the meat
market really gets going. Take your pick
of any dudebro, any striped popped—
collared future maniac, and let's high five
our every intention. They're not exactly
warblers, but it's been about two weeks
since the last time I heard Let It Go
so thank God you came along! I think
we're making progress and then
it's late and you text me when there are
no other witnesses. According to
The Savvy Girls' Guide To Getting Out
And Getting Laid, I've already struck out
twice. What do you think? Can I score
another drink before you ask if I have
a boyfriend? Isn't that what you
expected, anyway? Watching people
on TV looking at art, eventually learning
all the words to our every future
conversation. I've avoided all eye contact
with any human for three months.
Don't make me start back now.

Kenzie Allen is a descendant of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. Her work can be found in Drunken Boat, The Iowa Review, SOFTBLOW, Kweli, and other venues, and she is the managing editor of the Anthropoid collective. She was born in West Texas, and tumbleweeds around with frequency.

ISSUE EIGHT: Melty Slayers | next poem →