I'm falling over under barcade lights,
syrupy sweet Princess Peach running over my tongue
Mario Kart power-ups and drunk N64 heroes wear
drinks named after cartoon characters
spread across their bellies
as they zero in on flat screens from deep corners of
overstuffed couches.
Your mouth
zeroes in on mine,
pink and pouting:
you want to play too.
I don't know the rules to this game
or what the prize exactly is;
if the gift of your love only exists
within the shifting walls of Barcadia
or if your heart will follow me home too,
crash on my threadbare couch in the Sunday morning light
sip a coffee,
watch a re-run.
Do you only reserve that love for boys?
I know it's just a kiss
just a night
but these moments make up a lifetime
and I don't want to be a sloppy starry night
from a bright and blurry memory
in yours.
We are constellations worth studying on clear nights
backs against dewy grass,
ribcages stretched towards the moon,
fingers tracing poems in the palms of each other's hands.
You pass me a tequila shot one of the N64 heroes bought us
as two of them peer over dyed black beers named Bowser.
You take your shot, peck me on the mouth, and hop into your hero's lap.
At the end of the night, you swish your hips into a cab
Princess Peach grenadine on your gums
and smoke a cigarette out the open window.
I stumble home and watch re-runs from my threadbare couch,
maple coffee and sunlit morning promises
linger in the haze of a 4am
rising sun.
I dream of sober love in drunk hearts
dizzy with the desire to know one another
for more than a fleeting midnight
or dazzling high score,
to be more than an accessory plucked from a rainbow array of texture
when you only wear pink satin.
About the Creator
sleepy drafts
a sleepy writer named em :)
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Comments (11)
Better to be forlorn & on your own than used for a night, tossed out & forgotten. Is it? I'm still trying to persuade myself.
This was so incredible! Maybe partially because of my love for video games, especially N64, and all the Mario games, but this was so unique. I’ve never read something like that, infusing s love poem with a video game scene. So good! I also loved the line “I dream of sober love in drunk hearts” which I read several times. What a scene you set!
Absolutely amazing poem! I particularly love, "I don't want to be a sloppy starry night / from a bright and blurry memory". Nice job!
Impressive work! Well written!
Amazing poem. I'm not a big fan of the "We are constellations / each other's hands." verse, in my humble opinion it doesn't really fit the barcadia theme. But the rest of the poem is filled with a sense of nostalgia-filled longing and it's definitely recognizable.
"but these moments make up a lifetime" This line hit me so hard because some people would never know or understand why we cherish a memory so much. Loved your poem!
“I dream of sober love in drunk hearts.” My fav line! This is amazing 🖤🥳
This a new fav!! Loved the Mario Cart characters and game play tie-ins. "We are constellations worth studying on clear nights" and "I dream of sober love in drunk hearts" were some of my favorite lines. Absolutely awesome work!! The drink names were super clever too. Loved it!!
HOW LOVELY. This line "We are constellations worth studying on clear nights" says so much, I have a thesis of thoughts just from that. Also the ending is beautifully rounded.
Smooth, sweet and rich as one of the cocktails it describes!
Ughhhh your poetry is so goood now I want to play too 😂 AND THIS LINE UGH “and I don't want to be a sloppy starry night” so perfectly fit