No No thank you No thank you   No thank you! Just no  Just not feeling it Just not not  not notno   No!   NO!! What part of no   DON’T you understand? N   O   Please remove your hand Please remove your hand No None of that    None   Nada Nada thing   Nothing   Silence The Unspoken  The Refusal  Not    the UN-Lived Not    the    i couldn’t care lessNot    the silence of indifference or recusal nor the conspiracy of consent Not the absence of yes But no   Just no  No to submissionNo is … Continue reading The Other Option by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

Ten years agoin ParisYou were rapedby the tongues of peacocksand told it was Paradise Todayyou standa little left                 of the Mirrorfanning yourselfwith liesannouncing your own arrivalwith nothing left to say Whereis the smileyou stretched across canvasbefore you learned to paint You say nothingwith so many featherswhile I sip passionlikean elephantthrough a straw Continue reading Viens! by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

In the dark she would whisper all the ways I could go— off the ledge   a speeding car No one would have to know  Bury myself inside myself or maybe under a scalpel Be consumed by alcohol one bite of a poisoned apple  Two girls still in pigtails leading second-hand lives… we wiped blood off floors our swollen lips  one—her inner thighs  Polished silver with our tears while the living room was dying All the shades were at half-mast leaky … Continue reading Secrets by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

Days may be shortDays may be longSome are steeped in wine and songClouds we chased ‘round river’s bendChildish wishes    childhood friends June July August SeptemberDaydreams we shall long rememberGreen green grass    the yawning lawn Soon Summer ends   and  I’ll be gone How quickly regret    fades   into forget How the sun rises   how the sun sets Golden yellow   azure blueSky that floats    through me and youStars that come … Continue reading Summer’s End by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

I tried to avoid the draft  instead I stayed to serve  breakfast lunch radio dinners in their aluminum coffins (all short orders)  sex—the main  love—the side  blues on tap  “And how would you like  your brown-eyed baby girl?”  I dished wiping the spit-shine from my tits “Sunny-side up    or over easy?”  “Easy,” you groaned— consciousness slipping from its zip-lock bag—   Nirvana  now only   the name of a rock band  “Easy, huh” me   brushing flies from your lips— the stench of the … Continue reading Girls’ Night Out by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko

Can anyone hear me    over I am a country in distress a state of emergency over and under protest   arbitrary arrest a rescue mission     in critical condition an act of sedition    without contrition  Can anyone help me??over a hungry nation   a demonstration without work       without food without a shout of truth is not what I was paid for is not what I was made for is not a promise I can keep without a dream … Continue reading Mayday! Mayday! by Antonia Alexandra Klimenko