Katie Longofono
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The Virus Writes a Short Story

Tark e-mails a 32 page document written in Jersey
he wants me to read it      I’m the only writer he knows –
somebody told him there’s a problem with women
in the story but he fixed it. There is a problem with women
in the story. I print out a copy    mark it red 
comments like     are you certain
this is not a stereotype? and   awkward.   
He still invites me to his apartment     we smoke
on the balcony he presses up behind me
I know he’s there before he’s at my neck
glasses scraping my cheek     he has a hard on
through his chinos and he hasn’t even gotten
to my lips. Tark turns me around and puts both hands
on the railing behind me, thrusts his head
like a chicken    I let him peck me   he holds my head
the way I like it    he is not a bad kisser     I don’t mind
when he pushes me onto the plastic lounge chair
squeak and shudder       so we go to the couch
where he twists toward me and reaches hungry
for my dress    don’t rip it   I was going to say
but then I remember o yea wait Tark before
we go any further you should know about The Virus
we are very stoned     he is quiet for a long time
he pulls back    moves to the next couch cushion
holds his head the way I like it      I don’t know
what to say I don’t think I’m ready to be
that open   he says this in several different ways
the angle of his knees away from my body
the deflated tent of his crotch the guitar he thrills
his fingers over       the volume dialed up
Tark wants to fuck me    but not like that       there is a problem
with women in this story –

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KATIE LONGOFONO received her MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, where she directed the 2014 SLC Poetry Festival. She is the co-founder of Dead Rabbits Reading Series, a monthly literary salon that takes place in NYC. Her first chapbook, The Angel of Sex, was published by Dancing Girl Press in 2013. Her chapbook Angeltits is forthcoming from Sundress Publications. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from Tinderbox Poetry Journal, BOAAT, South Dakota Review, Juked, Midwestern Gothic, and more. She may or may not be on Twitter. She lives in Brooklyn.