Dear Jon,
It’s not that I’m dreaming of leaving
It’s just that there is so much two-ness
I’m trying to deal with the two-ness
the way you look at me
the way you ask about
the general state of things
like it’s okay
to wake up
and be my husband
The two-ness of waking
the two hot bodies hot
the two mouths
the two stretches
and forgetting
Oh God
I didn’t mean to hit a soft spot
I just want to tell you
that sometimes the ocean feels so far away
and it feels like no one swims in it
and I don’t even like the ocean
I hate fish
But you are the ocean
Oh God
I’m sorry
Dear Jon,
I’ve been thinking about desire
about the interval
about wanting to return to myself
about Hannah Wilke’s vaginas
That might be what this is about
I can only go towards you
I want to go away
Or maybe it’s just that I stopped jogging
and this city is fat
I really will cry when it snows, Jon
I’m not even kidding
Mourning nothing is the most difficult
Mourning is impossible
It’s not you, Jon
It’s me
Dear Jon,
I’ve been thinking about the war
About how we are the only ones left in the world
Maybe we should go away, Jon
Maybe we are in the wrong place
Maybe we should drive for nine days again
Maybe we could enjoy it this time
I tried so hard to make you understand
what I was thinking on that trip
from Padua to Milan
but you acted like a spoiled child
I couldn't keep on hurting you
now I only have the courage
because I'm far away
this is sudden for me too
I don’t want to be anywhere
but the ocean
with the little boy
who represents something
I just want to write about my pregnant body
and about your pregnant body, Jon
I just want the little boy to worry less
and be proud of himself
biography
AMANDA MONTEI‘s poetry and fiction has recently appeared or is forthcoming in P-Queue, Gigantic, Joyland, Explosion Proof Magazine, Delirious Hem, PANK, and others. Her critical writing has appeared in Performing Ethos, Harriet: The Blog, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, and Ms. Magazine. Her book Dinner Poems, co-authored with Jonathan Rutzmoser, is forthcoming from Bon Aire Projects. She is currently a doctoral student in the English department at the State University of New York at Buffalo.