by Mouse Rikala (’23)
23 Eve
T-shirts, bare legs and panties
living at the bottom of a pond.
Silly koi fish.
Spit and mascara pooling under eyes.
The whir of a fan, dull blades.
Spores swinging,
is it rude to not learn
the scientific names
for your house plants?
Borrowed balloons borrowed time
wasting away (skull with a cigarette)
growing into that face,
becoming radiant, embracing
molasses thighs.
Getting fucked but not feeling it,
being numb is blasé and the spores
are still fucking swinging,
If I borrow the time and try to multiply
it then why can’t I find whatever it is
that’s hiding in X?
Swallowing up change in the chasm
of me makes a jingling
soirée, the koi fish
are jealous of my ability to swallow
quarters, the remainder of last ditch
effort and swinging spores.
No New Notifications
Cigarette baby separation anxiety
Puddle of wine, dirty ice cubes
Rearrangement of features
Stab wound in a fleshy thigh
Bee carcass
Sticks and stones break bleeding colors
Color palette of a spine
Crooked nose and the echo of empty walls
Black eye sunset
Everything feels new in a city you’ve never been before,
Chicago rain under rooftops. Waiting room purgatory
The particular magic of a pool light underwater, yellow effervescence
It’s a good thing I have such a high pain threshold
Door creaks are horses neighing
Farms, driftless glen distillery
Terpene stomach
Radio waves in an armadillo
Kaitlin ‘Mouse’ Rikala (’23)
I submitted this small collection of poems for Common Forms consideration because while I am primarily an art historian (especially within the context of the University of Chicago as an institution), I am also an active poet that enjoys submitting my work to publications. I want to share some of my own creative work with my academic community and Common Forms seems like the perfect venue in which to do this. I have chosen to title this collection of works ‘There’s Glitter In My Hippocampus’. These poems are about my twenty-third year, most of which took place during 2022.
‘23 Eve’ was written the night before my twenty-third birthday and it captures the thoughts, feelings, and experiences that I was processing at that time. ‘No New Notifications’ is a manifestation of a variety of things; words and phrases that were stuck in my mind, explorations of growing pains, and descriptions of moments/flashes in time.
I hope anyone who reads these gets something out of them, or simply enjoys the ways that the words sound when strung together.
Mouse (they/them) is a 23 year old that graduated from UWEC with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Art History and Creative Writing. They are currently attending The University of Chicago as a Master’s student. Their work has been featured in the literary magazines None of The Above, Angel Rust Magazine and New Note Poetry, among other places. Find out more at https://kaitlinrikala.wixsite.com/website.