Bitter Experience and Other Poems

By Katherine Orfinger

Bitter Experience (for Oates and Chekhov)

and I understand now
why Anna held herself
to a godly standard and

why she needed to
make those little lines,
their lives seeping together

my head, a dim bathroom:
she paces. my own soul peers
through a speckled mirror

a forgotten piece of 
metal glints in the harsh light
she ignores

the door, wide
open. takes
the hard way out

Poem for My Psychiatrist

Let my face eclipse the sun in her entirety,
leaving me resplendent in my chintzy halo,
devouring her bite by bite, and
spitting cheeked Seroquel and sunflower
seeds into the void. 
What is the prescription
when poetry is not enough?

Untitled

I want to dance
all night, wake up less than half
dead, with yesterday’s enthusiasm caked on my pillow.
Insect legs of mascaraed lids flutter
my mouth, the grenadine gash 
open and wailing.
So thrilled to be
alive tonight.
I want to dance 
forever on a backlit floor,
DJ’s dreamscape reverberates in me.
Dance with me until I make you
unmake me. Give it back.
Give it to
me in a cheap mesh dress
a constellation of glitter and cigarette butts.
Dance me out ‘til daybreak.
My stilettoes your shoulders the thin film 
of sweat and nowness and
my inverted kiss on a martini glass. Take me
dancing. Hold my hand.

Katherine Orfinger is a writer, artist, and MFA candidate at Rosemont College and holds a BA in English from Stetson University. Her work has been supported by The Academy of American Poets, Craigardan, and has appeared in Beyond Words, Touchstone, The Write Launch, and others. Katherine draws inspiration from her Jewish faith and Floridian hometown. She currently resides in Pennsylvania with her best friend, who happens to be a cat.