VI. The Lovers

the rage, the loving, the fucking, the desire
by samantha rose johnson

i’d let you top me
right on this balcony
under the unforgiving sun of Los Angeles

   who’s paying attention anyway
   besides the palm trees, succulents, & mountains

the sun is still close
but animals are vanishing:
   the squirrels aren’t eating in the bushes,
   spiders aren’t stalking & building in the trees
   the quarter-sized beetles aren’t buzzing in the tepid breeze

& that’s how i know winter is coming to crusade
for its cause     though it may not win
   (palms & people have witnessed its gradual compromise)
so winter will join us
even if the cold does not

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samantha rose johnson (she/her) is a Bay Area-born writer. Her poetry chapbook L’ACQUA was published by Tiny Divine Press in 2017. She is the founder and editor of the cult feminist magazine, Pussy Magic. Her writing has appeared in ILY Mag, Occulum, Tiny Flames Press, and more. She is a graduate of University of California, Riverside with a B.A. in English, and is currently a student at the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program. She lives in Los Angeles where she manages events at the legendary Sunset Strip bookstore, Book Soup.