Dodo Eraser

Literary Beyoncé wants you to know she can recite the alphabet backwards. Literary Beyoncé can dance and build an Ikea bookshelf at the same time. Literary Beyoncé can smell the 5G in the air. Literary Beyoncé understands fractions and has memorized all state capitals. Literary Beyoncé once proposed to change the band name from Destiny’s Child to Destiny’s Children because she’s a diehard pluralist. Literary Beyoncé is against monogamy but supports loyalty cards at local coffeeshops. Literary Beyoncé watched her parents go into couple’s therapy on multiple occasions. Literary Beyoncé dreams of marrying David Foster Wallace’s ghost at a lobster shack in Maine. Literary Beyoncé is good with words. Literary Beyoncé can make poetry out of everyday life without resorting to analogy. Literary Beyoncé believes in the free market. Literary Beyoncé orders plush flamingos on AliExpress in her free time. Literary Beyoncé wants to be famous, but she also wants more than fame. Literary Beyoncé craves the kind of bibliography that would look good on her Wikipedia page. Literary Beyoncé wants to be crazy in love. Literary Beyoncé fights the feminine urge to dress up like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct 2. Literary Beyoncé sets a Google notification for her high-school crush. Literary Beyoncé fears of aging and applies daily skincare routines she streams off YouTube. Literary Beyoncé lathers her hair with dry shampoo and the mystery goo from her fridge. Literary Beyoncé once fell in love with a marine-life biologist who taught her not to consume anything that is smart enough to decorate its lair. Literary Beyoncé adopted a goldfish after the break-up. Literary Beyoncé lives above a fish market in Koreatown these days. Literary Beyoncé once had a near-death experience at a Taco Bell drive-thru at 2 AM, which made her develop trust issues toward her own impulse decisions. Literary Beyoncé hasn’t spoken to her parents in three years. Literary Beyoncé smells like turpentine and wet garbage on a hot day. Literary Beyoncé can rewrite her own stuff without having to consult her agent. Literary Beyoncé doesn’t even have an agent. Literary Beyoncé makes it her life’s mission to correct the posture of all upturned tortoises. Literary Beyoncé wants pancakes for breakfast for the rest of her life. Literary Beyoncé wants to be the kind of person whom the other people would vote for in local elections. Literary Beyoncé wants to be the kind of mother who won’t give up smoking when she’s pregnant. Literary Beyoncé thinks black dogs are just bad luck. Literary Beyoncé wants you to know America has a problem. Literary Beyoncé knows you’re not a survivor.

Sarp Sozdinler has been published in Electric Literature, Kenyon Review, Shenandoah, Pithead Chapel, HAD, X-R-A-Y, and Maudlin House, among other journals. He edits the literary journal The Bulb Region.