the influencers are gaslighting us

By Bleah Patterson

            and when the debt collector calls

                        tells me to pay up            I am covered

    head to toe in lavender, sunbathing        on the deck

                 sucking hard on          a pressed green juice

      unbothered      I tell him a morning routine

saved my life,        he should give

it a try, offer him my skincare routine    the bags

under my eyes are        my most expensive accessory    he says

I’m giving him a headache      I ask if he’s   tried

avoiding blue-light        for one hour               after

he wakes up                                   he says

he’s     starving, $35 a month, that’s all I need           and when I ask

            if he’s tried intermittent fasting         he hangs up on me this time.

About the Author

Bleah Patterson (she/her) is a southern, queer writer born and raised in Texas, and is a current MFA candidate and writing professor. She is a Pushcart nominee and her various genres of work are featured or forthcoming in The Brazos River Review, Write or Die, The Texas Review, Across the Margins, Queerlings, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Beaver Magazine, and elsewhere.