it’s so nice to see you!!!!

did you think i meant something

by tying my hair up at coffee?

you would have been caught

off guard if i had said “undress me

the way you would a mandarin!”

one whose rind is already loosened

from itself, that thin layer

of air separating skin and flesh.

how do i make myself look lived in?

i heard real estate agents bake

a ramekin of vanilla essence in the oven.

put magazines beside the toilet

dog ear the pages you'd find interesting.

vaccum the carpets but leave

a few mandarin peels on the counter

a hair tie beside the bathroom sink.

Holly Rowsell (she/her) is a student living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She considers herself a lover of burgundy and an involuntary poet. You can find her work in Catalyst, Tarot and bad apple.