- Hayley Bernier
“Midnight on a Tuesday”
This poem was originally published on The Pittsburgher’s predecessor, The Dog Door Cultural.
The wetness of her face
answers my question.
Drawn by the remnants of light from the street,
the silent outline
shakes her head.
She manages to remove her boots
and lopes disoriented
out of the room.
Behind the bathroom door
a wrenching sound
forms a cavern
with its lips.
The door stays closed.
I imagine a mournful beast
in the white wall cubicle—
a body of curled gnarls,
raspberry bush hair and desperate claws
trying to rid herself
of her shining skin
and dripping mouth.
She wants me to hear her.
She doesn’t want to be stopped. ▲
Hayley Bernier (she/her) is a queer Canadian poet. She got her MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh last year, and is currently home in Quebec, working on too many poems