Yes The Void publishes a new poem by Merel van Slobbe, with an illustration by May Blank (Instagram: @fraublank).

 

 

Lonelygirl15 is telling me about her day

 

Lonelygirl15 is looking at me through her webcam
Lonelygirl15 is telling me about her day

I put a band-aid on my webcam
as if it’s something that can be healed

as if something is bleeding

Wifi slips through cracks in my walls
it clingsagainst my body, it burns in my eyes
like shampoo

Lonelygirl15 shares more than 60 percent of her DNA with goldfish
her body contains more bacteria than it contains cells


Pornhub contains enough videos for a single person
to continuously watch porn for 115 years

I undress myself in front of the mirror
millions of bacteria are getting lost in my body
there’s no way out


I want somebody to touch me
I want to drink freshly squeezed orange juice
I want someone to comment on the colour of my eyes
in an unexpected and non-cynical way
I want someone to compliment me on my market value
I want to be a tiger and parade my fur in front of my trainers
I want to be a reality star and drink champagne
and wear a golden cocktail dress with stains
from either semen or lemon mousse
I’m not here to make friends
I’m here to survive the apocalypse
I want to write a novel and tell people
Of course it’s autobiographical, isn’t everything?
I want to be the soft version of something else
Etc


I share 61 percent of my DNA with fruit flies
I share 99 percent of my DNA with the Real Housewives of Orange County


My laptop is humming monotonously
it comforts me, like the breathing
of a sleeping lover
Lonelygirl15 is telling me about her day
I remove the band-aid from my webcam
I want someone watching over me