Romy Rhoads Ewing
“do you think the D in xD knows how to scream?”
NorCal slumlord lights cook me alive,
Ever-harsh, one part limelight, two parts
Attention on the ground, attention on the ground;
Stay indoors and don’t approach,
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is looking for–
I smell like Viva La Juicy and I
Taste only bile. But I’ll probably be able
To sweat it out–that and the Fireball and the
ICEE and the soft crevice, that pit of shame
You nestle yourself into. I’m at the midsize city
Anime con, ears flopping as I run to you,
Dead mall echoes telling on us, the way we only
Scream or whisper, bystanders
Seeing it for what it is before we do.
But you know what kind of girls I really like?
Besides the we shouldn’t ones?
The kinds that would say, “just open your
Throat, don't think about it” to
Get the drinks down, nihilistic inhalation,
Tilt my head back, make me forget
How to taste. To think. To open up
This fucking pit.
Romy Rhoads Ewing (she/they) is a writer and photographer from Sacramento, California. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in BRAWL, HAD, Querencia Press, Nowhere Girl Collective, Anti-Heroin Chic, Major 7th Magazine, persephone’s fruit, UC Davis’s Open Ceilings Magazine, and Genrepunk Magazine. Her debut chapbook, "please stay," was published by Bottlecap Press in 2024. They received their Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from Sacramento State University and also hold an Associate of Arts in Anthropology. She is currently studying Japanese. Romy, their work, and further information can be found online at www.romyrhoadsewing.xyz.
