Ashley Vemuri is currently a college student in Washington, DC, where she enjoys staying up until sunrise while being unproductive (to further mess up her circadian rhythm), being incredibly distractible, and participating in hilarious shenaniganry.In her spare time, she reads obsessively about serial killers, psychology, and Tudor England, though not necessarily at the same time.

Three Poems (March 20, 2009. Issue 15. The DirtyDirty.)

Secrets

While you were asleep,
I put on your shirt
And looked in the mirror,
Just to know how it would feel
To be your girlfriend and
Wear things that belonged to you.

While you were asleep,
I sprayed your cheap cologne
On one of your sweaters,
Just to know what it would smell like
If I shared your pillow, too,
Instead of just your bed.

While you were asleep,
I thought of all the things
I’ve never told you,
And all the things I never will,
Because things were never
Supposed to be this way.

While you were asleep,
I whispered in your ear
To ease the nightmares
That made you cry out
In the middle of the night.
I will never tell you
That they finally stopped
When I said,
“I love you.”

WANTED: College co-ed with low self esteem, willingness to please

“Girlfriend” is not a title,
But a job description;
A volunteer position,
With only carnal pay.
He secretly revels in the fact
That I love him more
Than I love my self.
We do not make love, we fuck;
Hard and fast and dirty,
Like animals or acrobats or outlaws,
Waking the neighbors and the dog.
When we are done, I dress
and leave, as alone as I was before.
Because, as everybody knows,
You should never bring work home.

On the job-etiquette of Hispanic prostitutes

To Gabriella S.

There once was a girl from P.R.
Who’d fuck in a bed or a car.
Nothing is free,
So she charges a fee
Depending how fast and how hard.