Those little clementine cuties might be my new favorite fruit
because what other snack starts with using your nails to rip something open, tearing layers
from skin, and the scent fill the whole room, leaves my fingertips stained orange and fragrant
I like digging my nails into something in the process of desiring it, pith left underneath
I’m so tired of sterility like why are we pretending we’re not all not living life here right now
Sorry my shirt is stained a girl’s gotta eat and sometimes I don’t stick the landing
but I know you’ve done it too even if you won’t admit it and why is vomit more acceptable
to talk about than poop, I’m not a nervous vomiter even if that’s cuter than diarrhea My
period is late, later than usual and it really feels like my jaw and my pelvic floor are never
not clenched and yes by pelvic floor I mean vagina and a tight vagina might sound good
to the heterosexually pornwashed but it doesn’t feel good to me Shouldn’t a body know
how to relax? Out of everything I’ve had to teach myself why is the loosening of muscles
one of them I don’t seem uptight but if I don’t categorize every piece of information
into some sort of list than I’ll lose my shit Again, back to the shit I told you it’s natural
Othering myself has gotten me through a lot of years of my life No one can say something
bad about me if I’ve said it about myself first Like how original did you rip
that out of my journal So many therapists love to tell you to journal but none of them
will tell me what to journal about I guess that’s my job but I could write about
everything and nothing and still have to shake urges to take knives to my skin so really
a little direction wouldn’t hurt don’t ya think And I don’t do that anymore not really You
can’t even see most of the scars these days but some urges are unshakable I’m never
really around babies anymore but my brain still sometimes feeds me the image of myself
shaking one Or dropping one Or pushing down on soft spots I can’t help it and when I try to
push intrusive thoughts away they come back stronger like Kelly Clarkson and
does anyone remember her 2011 song “Don’t Be a Girl About It”? Did no one on her
team question that decision even just a little I know the feminist is always a buzzkill but
someone’s gotta question it Tho we did let “Ur So Gay” slide so I guess who effin cares
This poem was written for a class after we read Tommy Pico’s book JUNK. Super specific prompts are not always the most generative for me, but I really enjoy writing poems “after” a certain poet and trying on their style for a poem or two. It can be incredibly freeing to read a collection and then see how those techniques can be implemented within your own work. Tommy Pico’s work is so playful, and writing this poem pushed me into making some unique choices I might not otherwise make.
What Inspires You
Indie rock music by women, BABE by Dorothy Chan, Devotions by Mary Oliver, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay, Leaving Biddle City by Marianne Chan, sunsets, hand-crafted valentines, Fat Girl Forms by Stephanie Rogers, 2010s romcoms, sci-fi shows from my childhood, Promises of Gold by José Olivarez.
Bio
Hallie Fogarty is a poet and artist from Kentucky. She received her MFA in poetry from Miami University, where she was awarded the 2024 Jordan-Goodman Graduate Award for Poetry. Her poetry has been published in Poetry South, Hoxie Gorge Review, The Lindenwood Review, and elsewhere. Her art has been published in Tulsa Review, Welter, and Harpur Palate. Her debut chapbook Carapace is out now from And Then Publishing. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and you can find her online: www.halliefogarty.com
Find the Spring 2026 Issue HERE
Previous NPM 2026 poets
| April 1 | Amy Forstadt |
| April 2 | Annette Sisson |
| April 3 | Beth Kanell |
| April 4 | Bonnie Proudfoot |
| April 5 | Charles Stringer |
| April 6 | D. Dina Friedman |
| April 7 | David Colodney |
| April 8 | Deanna Ludwin |
| April 9 | Eileen Pettycrew |
| April 10 | Felice Alexandra |
| April 11 | Grace Massey |
| April 12 | Hallie Fogarty |