by Stacey Teague and Ana Carrete
when we sleep together i am afraid to touch you
your body is a foreign country to me
it is spring time there
think of all the beds we have ever been in
our beds & our friends’ beds
think of want in all its forms
what we feel for each other crawls over our skin like ants
but the ants get heavier and heavier and when we
sweep them underneath the duvet
it makes the bed sag in the middle
not unlike the weight of our two bodies
we will twist ourselves into the sheets
unwind and breathe
it’s the middle of the night now
and i want you in your white t-shirt
we belong to nothing except our own desires
we pretend we own the inflatable
or regular mattresses or convertible couches
we pretend we own half the space
half is yours half is kind of mine
both halves really belong to someone else
my eyes are closed but i stare at the wall in my head
i imagine the wall and your face your back
is facing my back and i am afraid but so are you
your bed is not my bed but it can be ours
if we try or pretend for a little bit
i am a sleepy little bitch
when i turn around and lick your shoulder
in my head when my eyes are closed and i’m staring at the wall
the wall is a thousand knives pressed against your back
but still i lean into you into them
romance is embarrassing
so instead we speak in skin
you squeeze your eyelids shut
but mine are still open
i undress myself
your eyelids
pulsing
it is morning and i pretend
like this is not the start of something.
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‘We Can Practice Sleeping Side By Side But I Don’t Think We’ll Be Any Good At It’
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Civil Coping Mechanism’s masthead states:
Civil Coping Mechanisms (CCM) is a DIY kind of press. We take the same level of angst as our brethren in shunning those that would be in the immediate position of neglecting our efforts as artisans. We take the sentiment of doing it ourselves while stating to the tired publishing process,“To hell with it.”
Why not do it our way?
What only matters: Offering a space for the innovation so sorely shamed and disregarded as unmarketable by the major and indie presses too busy selling the next celebrity memoir, paper-thin creative nonfiction spine of lies, the wax-intellectual pursuits of yet-again the same vision wrapped in newer trim, or the same regurgitated genre-fiction and prose you’d expect would have become stale by now. Oh yes, we rant. This is our place. We’ll do as we damn well please.
CCM is run by Michael Seidlinger and a couple of their hardworking editors that just want to bring you good books from writers that they believe in.
In order to do continue to do this CCM needs some $$$. Via their Kickstarter CCM is offering incentives put forth by some of the CCM authors.
If you feel inclined to support indie publishing and indie authors I would recommend checking out the Kickstarter where you’ll be able to snag a custom chapbook from Ana Carrette, My ‘complete works’ as all of my chapbooks in a perfect-bound full color book, and you could also donate to receive CCM’s entire forthcoming 2013-2014 catalog.
My book, Alone With Other People, is forthcoming from CCM this year and your support means so much to me and the entire CCM family.
(via seemstween)
