Leave the door open
your face screams in me
I cannot think of anything but you
at the inseam of my jeans
cloth closer than the space between us
at the gap
the breath of my thighs against one another
this is your mouth on me
your stutter spasms into my breasts
my hands weep limp curses
it is the distance that rubs
Louella Sullivan learned to type poems one-handed whilst bouncing small babies on her lap. She did an MA in Creative Writing at Rhodes in 2014 where she completed her thesis Bitten under Robert Berold. She is a Drama, History and English teacher as well as a part-time lecturer at Rhodes University. She has been published in Aerodrome, New Contrast, New Coin and Itch. Her poems have been described as “polished, poised and vivid”. In 2016, her poem “Refugee” was longlisted for the Sol Plaatje European Union Poetry Award.