Saturdays

Why do people always choose saturdays

to wig out

I mean the ones who scream leave me alone

i hate your guts

why do they always choose 2:05 pm saturdays

to say get the hell outa here

I mean the ones kicking walls

slamming doors

crushing skulls

why do they always have to choose saturdays for

me to lift my window and yell

shut the fuck up

Notes:

This essay is part of the portfolio “Jayne Cortez: I Imitate No One.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the November 2024 issue.

“Saturdays” is from Firespitter: The Collected Poems of Jayne Cortez (Nightboat Books, 2025) and was originally published in Scarifications (1973). We are grateful to Nightboat Books for their assistance in compiling this folio, and to the estate of Jayne Cortez for their permission in reprinting this poems.

Source: Poetry (November 2024)