Measure Magazine, Vo. IX

MATURITY IN FLUX.

BY: NORA HOGERTY :

My gingham-patterned Nike Air Max Kicks shuddered as they stuck to the ground with the first step, this was far past the Clorox-wiped tiles of their accustomed living situation. Watching their step, they played hopscotch in between scattered Solo cups holding candy-colored liquids. Seizure-inducing LED lights, commonly known as “boy lights,” twitched between pneumonia-mucus green and mall-fountain-chlorine blue. The lights dangerously shook from the pounding bass produced by the harmonic echoes of 21 Savage and Sage the Gemini. Only two Command Strips held the lights and the ambiance of the entire room in their delicate synthetic claws. Not to worry, a tool box, still sealed by the clearance sticker, stood guard under a pile of old t-shirts. To the right, the overflowing laundry basket took on the shape of a Venus Fly Trap, perhaps the shirts it sunk its claws into weren’t originally pigmented a sickly-yellow? There in this neon, in the shadows, the accessories of an unfinished manhood scatter across a desktop. The most menacing figure, a consistent drip of Dove Men+Care 2-in-1 Shampoo and Body Wash soiling a cup of unbaptized, sharpened, pencils.. The room was lived in, personally decorated by an impressive amount of bottle caps. All were aligned meticulously on the mantle, creating a mosaic of wrinkled metal. The mottled backsplash gleamed as the glow from an opened mini-refrigerator spilled into the room. On its shelves, the refrigerator revealed only a jar of pickles. The kind with the stork on the front, purchased by their boy’s original stork. The bird cast watchful eyes over a blooming independence. But, she was only allowed a peek when a box of leftover Giacomo’s pizza earned the right to be chilled.

Measure Magazine

76

22595.indd 76

4/15/22 10:39 AM

Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online