Kayleb Rae Candrilli

My Partner Wants Me to Write Them a Poem about Drew Barrymore

And of course this poem has to be about home and longing for it.
There is a moment in most people’s day, when they remember

both the vastness of the universe and their father’s opioid
addiction. Yes, aliens most surely exist, but what about

rehab and therapy and enough resources to go around,
right here on Earth. I am tired and I’m sure you are too.

When my partner saw the Grand Canyon for the first time,
they wept. The whole sky was the same color, a massive,

unimaginable thing. I once split open a live lizard and found
maggots. It’s true that we can hold just about everything

inside of us, whether we want to, or not. If I had any freedom
at all, I’d take out my partner’s ovarian cysts and fertilize

a garden, but what do I know about love, or about soil,
besides how they both feel just the same in my mouth.