THREE POEMS by LUCIA GALLIPOLI
My Nervous System? She Sure Is!
I am gross.
I know this because upon sharing
my OCD diagnosis with my loved ones,
they were unanimously like, Really? You?
Admittedly, my aversion to showers (lifelong)
and my affinity for letting food rot on silverware (until age 20)
were not inspiring confidence in my doctor or her practice.
I blame myself.
I take a hiatus from my body and feel overly dramatic
because Google suggests this experience
is usually triggered by actual trauma.
A doctor tells me this (not trauma?) isn’t unheard of,
and I write about it in a poem,
and wonder how she feels about that?
I am not dramatic.
Twitter waters down the word “dissociation” to the point
where claiming the experience feels gauche:
Hahahaha, dissociating because my lecture is so boring!
I’m sure you are, babe!
I should probably log off.
I probably won’t.
My Brain Is a Startup and I’m Eager to Find Investors
I’M DOING IT TO BUILD MY BRAND!
I yell at myself, furiously typing away on LinkedIn,
staring into my reflection on the screen.
Hey mister—pick my brain?? ;-)
I drag an image of my medications
onto the screen, prescription # included, send post.
I build a five year plan
to cancel my middle school bullies via LinkedIn.
Those screenshots on AIM must be here somewhere…
This is good. This is justice, even.
I am a problem solver.
I can do tasks.
Let’s both pretend I have four years
of relevant experience.
Endorse me? Baby?
Would you please endorse me on LinkedIn, baby?
I release a sultry first chapter of fan fiction
about Parks and Rec
and become a LinkedIn-fluencer.
This is my literal platform
and my brand makes comfortable comedy erotic.
I could be like Leslie,
I could be a girl boss getting it on like Leslie!
I imagine my growing readership imagining, five chapters in.
Those dates from the apps
who never told me their full names.
What if I added them on LinkedIn.
What if I added them on LinkedIn
three years later,
no contact.
Girly in STEM
I’m going to invent a mini skirt
that considers human anatomy in its design
I’m going to invent a drink
that makes you not want to fall asleep
it will taste like the earth
but could modified to taste like ice cream
I’m going to invent a way of arranging limbs
on the ground that feels comfortable to the body
I’m going to invent a lifestyle
that doesn’t include electricity
I’m going to invent an activity
that makes people feel connected
through pleasure and intimacy
I’m going to invent a continent
where weather is never noticeable
I’m going to invent a machine
that allows me to show strangers
how pretty I look this morning in particular
I’m going to invent a substance
that will make people smiley and gooey
that will have them oozing across the floor
in tacky spit
it will be a “hit”
Lucia Gallipoli is a senior at NYU concentrating in sexuality, love, and art. She is probably lost somewhere in the cycle of worshipping Mitski and Kate Bush via Spotify and forgetting that they exist for a few weeks. More of her work can be found here.