Oven

Sarah Ann Loreth "The Oven"

Oven
__________________

“But I would rather
be horizontal”
—Sylvia Plath
“I Am Vertical”
The Collected Poems
_____________________

I’d rather be horizontal—
my head stuck deep in an oven
not a tree with my root in the dirt
sucking up minerals & motherly love

I’m sick of the sad beauty—
of garden beds attracting all those
sorts of pretty ahs and lovely ohs
I have no desire to unpetal myself
_____________________

I don’t want immortality—
all I want is to endure one’s
longevity as long as I can
and then just call it quits

Tonight the last thing—
I want to see is the infinitesimal
light of all the stars and flowers that
have been stinking up my life
______________________

Give me the cool odor of gas—
while none of them are noticing me
I want to start sleeping forever now
the most perfect thing I can do

My thoughts are dimming—
it’s much more natural this way
just lying down & forgetting about
his ashtray against my forehead