Halloween

I’m drunk
on a stained

couch—sucking
a Dum-Dum

when you ask
who I am. I want

to say my name
but gag

on the word.
I lift my

tongue,
show you

my teeth.
The name

drops easily
from your mouth

like candy
into a sack—

Frida. I slurp
my lollipop

to the bone.
You watch,

hungry.

About the author

E is a Maryland-born, Italian American writer currently working toward an MFA in Creative Writing at the California Institute of the Arts. Their first novel, a genre-bending adventure about a closeted Catholic witch, is currently in query. For more of their writing, visit their Substack at callmee.substack.com.

Photo by Mesha Mittanasala on Unsplash.