Artwork by Syd Danger
“powerade” by Ivanna Baranova
to say i know some things
in a way of saying
i know many things
to say i know many things
in a way of saying
fuck me
and the stale
intellectual tendency
this is about the kilogram of mdma
rick had manufactured before
it was criminalized
dedications
from the underground
packed
in little swiss bags
filled
with little lab capsules
no
labels
i am high on mdma
i am in a bed
and i am high on mdma
i am in a bed
in an office on kingsway
and i am high on mdma
there is a
blue acid blanket
of porta potty chemicals
hopscotching the taste buds
on my cold red tongue
i spit purple
i blend my jaw
i am presiding
over a chorus of angels
you
are the most
beautiful person
on earth and i love you
i say to the vision
of my sister
who floats
inward then away
i dissolve
i am a metonym
or is it metronome
or is it mimetic mimetic device
i identify with one word
at the expense of possible
identification with all other words
every lexiconic mouthful
betrays me
sync up
sync out
dissolve dissolve dissolve
a boy i love tonight
holds his palm to my chest
to push the breaking further in and in and out
i am high on mdma
on a saturday night
and
i am not at the party
i am high on mdma
on a saturday night
and
i unbecome the party
i am high on mdma
riding down
hallways
in office
chairs
to
sidestep
the stream of fainting
i am
in real life mario kart
and i like it
the other
day
on a small
dirt trail in alberta
i lost
balance
i fell
down a cliff
my body
landed in the bow river
i call charlotte during
the after and in the afraid
she says
to consider the possibility
of existential dizziness
as a catalyst
for falling into the river
as a catalyst
for slow dying blah blah
i am wet
and also i am tired
of considering the possibilities
i am just like the other women
in all the other poems
tired wet considerate
powerade pour another acid
blanket on my tongue
powerade pour another acid
blanket on my tongue
tuck me in with the chorus
of angels ok?
i love you
and you are the most
beautiful person
on earth
Ivanna Baranova is a Brooklyn-based writer. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Montreal Review of Books, glitterMOB, The Puritan, Peach Mag, Poetry Is Dead, Hobart, ÄLPHÄ (Metatron Press), and elsewhere. Find her online @internetfantasy and ivannabaranova.com.
Syd Danger is an illustrator and designer living in Vancouver BC, with her two cats and many dead plants. You can see more of her works at www.syddanger.com.