Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/silhouette-of-woman-standing-in-front-of-window-adfavGDf48w) 04.11.2023.
Despite My Reservations Regarding Apocalypses
the dragon outside my bedroom window tells me
that the end is coming soon, that it’s okay to get drunk
fucked up, fuck around, because it’s all going to come crashing down
so very soon
that there’s no reason to practice prudence or prudishness. it blinks its gigantic
blue-green eyes at me through the crack between the flowered bedroom curtains
so beguilingly I have no choice but to believe it’s true.
later, in the kitchen, the dragon curls up around my tiny dinette
tail delicately tucked around its body and out of the way of my heavy feet
watches me cooking dinner, tells me I should order a pizza instead
because there’s no reason to keep any money in my bank account
or worry about cholesterol or being fat or the evildoings or shady associations
of certain corporate pizza places
when the end of the world is so close
so very close
that the dragon can already taste the smoldering embers of burning cities on its tongue
already knows what I’ll look and smell like when I’m dead.
About the Author: Holly Day's writing has recently appeared in Analog SF, The Hong Kong Review and Appalachian Journal. She currently works as an instructor at The Richard Hugo Center in Seattle and at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.
