Olivia Williams
3 Months Sober
I like to mix the taste of cigarettes
With chocolate covered raisins
And energy drinks, from the gas station on the corner
I smoke Newports and Pall Mall menthols
$6.50 a pack
I save the receipts, ink and paper proof that I was here
$5.50 on bread, $2.00 for toothpaste
I exist
I circle the words I use most in my thesaurus
Burrow my feet under blankets warm from the dryer
I sit back, I lay down
I suck hard sweet candy, I lie in the sun
I drag my cigarette
Socks on, socks off
I close my eyes, then open them.
Bio
Olivia grew up in the heart of Georgia, in a small town that she still considers home despite having no intentions of returning to it. Most of her twenties has been spent in flux--she has moved at least once every year, lived in two different countries and six U.S. cities across four states, and pursued three graduate degrees. She is a recovering addict/alcoholic, avid reader, illustrator, and aspiring vegetarian. She is currently waiting out the pandemic in a one-room studio apartment in D.C. with her boyfriend and occasional foster dogs.