Pop: An Elegy

Danielle Garland
Published on June 12, 2025

There turned out to be no fogged streetlamp

anointing us. No tender words

or familiar song to soundtrack this memory.

None of the busied birds

that appear in our other poems.

Instead, our final kiss

was close-lipped

and quick,

as you climbed

on top of my morning-breath body.

Our movements easy and silent,

as if we had finally

formed a habit.

 

Genre: 
Poetry
Author Bio: 

Danielle Garland (she/her) is a writer, science communicator, and feeding therapist from southern Appalachia who spends time thinking about grief, the intimacy of movement, and the fragility of narrative. Her work has been previously published or is upcoming in Ninth Letter, Empty House Press, Susurrus Magazine, and others. Find her on Instagram @_daniellegarland

Issue: 
62