Work Crush
Blue ink-stained fingers / drips on the conference room table / I lean in / to lend you a pen / as you lean in / to borrow a pen / and my lips graze / the edge of your ear lobe / like a kiss / the room stifled with sudden heat / or the summer air / or my blushing cheeks / and I wonder / do you think about that moment / in every meeting now / or did you feel none of it / self-consciously / I sit across from you / where my mouth / is far from your skin / cool in this new season / my pen still in your hand / I like knowing / you hold something of mine.
Melissa Flores Anderson is a Latinx Californian whose creative work has been published in swamp pink, Chapter House, ELJ Editions and HAD. She published a novelette (ELJ Editions) and a chapbook (JAKE) in 2024. She is a reader/editor for Roi Fainéant Press. Follow her on Twitter @melissacuisine or IG @theirishmonths.