[09/19/25][POETRY]Don’t Be A Stranger
Two Poems
by Francesca Kritikos
Will I Mourn This Life
Doomed
By its beauty
Which was brute
Always, and paralyzing
This morning
Making breakfast
I accidentally drank milk
From the mother
Of an animal
Who is not me
And saw
Behind my eyes
The firm contours
Of its dark cage
It tastes good
But I won't miss it
Don’t even get a lollipop
Worse things have happened
to better people
You can look at the ocean
And tell it'll pull you down
Still you crawl in
I mean
Still I crawled
Throat cut
By the pill’s edge
I miss my baby
Teeth
Spitting into my father’s
Cupped palms
Remember
I was too soft
To break the skin
Of the sweetest fig
Once
Don't be a stranger
I don't deserve it
FRANCESCA KRITIKOS is the editor in chief of SARKA, a journal and publisher focused on works of the flesh. Her latest book, The season of lilacs is monstrous, is forthcoming from Blush Lit in October 2025. Her writing has been published in English, French and Greek in numerous online and print journals. She also writes the Substack column Body Composition.