“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