Cesium

How many Davids have been in this bed
with its curtainless window of streetlamp
moon? Most of them passingly interested
as they disrobe, engage, redress, decamp.
No rush for you. You stick around. You stay
to melt heart with your Prussian blues, to shove
me on my stomach then dry-hump your way
to a satellite connection. Not love,
nor lust full of disregard, not a screw
to liquify esteem, this one exists
outside time; this one feels honest and true
‘til you freeze time with a caustic plot twist.
Oh, why’d you try to slip it in unsheathed
then feign innocence like a teenage thief?

Gadolinium

What happens to fairies who age out of
gold, into gray? Do their spells lose power?
Must sparkly wands double as walking canes? 

Do the twinkling lights that once marked loops of 
flight dazzle less and relate a slower
gait in keeping with a crosswalk sign? Wait!

Maybe magic concentrates as we rethink
our dismissive views of such less-flashy gifts
as MRI readings and déjà vu.

Let’s make the most of who we are: Not twinks
but trolls and other freaks of Ancient Myth.
Bring on the hydras and Nosferatu!

Youth may relish the pixies and fairies.
We’re decrepit, bitter. Let’s be scary. 

Drew Pisarra is the author of Infinity Standing Up (2019), a collection of sonnets c/o Capturing Fire Press, You're Pretty Gay (2021), a short story collection c/o Chaffinch Press, and The Strange Case of Nick M. (2021), a radio play commissioned by Imago Theatre and now available at Fresh Fruit Radio. Additionally, he is a literary grantee of both the Cafe Royal Cultural Foundation and Curious Elixirs: Curious Creators.