< 1
Why do women hate sex?
he asked the table,
face lit blue by his screen,
thumb flicking through bodies
he’d never satisfy.
Don’t they like pleasure?
She tore open
the sugar packet –
a small violence –
spilling diamonds into heat.
Stirring.
The spoon hitting the glass
like a metronome
counting down his smallness.
She turned her face toward the sun,
eyes closed, smiling –
letting warmth touch her
where he never could.
Sweetness dissolving
on her own terms.
My name is Melissa Elder, a poet from New Jersey. When I’m not reading or writing poetry, I’m trying to capture it through a lens. I have two collections of published poetry, The Mundane and Nostalgia. My third book, In the Quiet, will be released in the Fall of 2026.