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gasoline smell in the simulation

when we’re out of juice
I feel like I’m dying

my engine light is on
my spouse takes it in

Reese Witherspoon
says something

about the mental load
being lighter that way

I have to believe
there’s nothing wrong

with saying congrats
on a new car

but the kids can’t have
their smoothies

without the juice now
I’m saying congrats

to the oil man
on record profits

etiquette activated
to fill my lungs

soon there will exist
no record of me

 

 

 

 

Samantha Duncan is the author of four poetry chapbooks, including Playing One on TV (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2018) and The Birth Creatures (Agape Editions, 2016), and her work has appeared in BOAAT, SWWIM, Kissing Dynamite, Meridian, and The Pinch. She lives in Houston.