feast of saint valentine
by Sophie Krug
University of Missouri - Kansas City
Sophie Krug (she/her or they/them) is a young writer, reader, and student from Kansas City, Missouri. They are double majoring in Creative Writing and French, and minoring in Print Media at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. They have been published in multiple school magazines since their high school writing career, including EPIC Art and Literary Magazine at Mizzou and Number One Art and Literary Magazine at UMKC. Growing up in mid-Missouri, Krug enjoys encapsulating the complexities of feminine midwest melancholy in their poetry. This is their first publication in Quirk. Instagram: @sophi5krug.
feast of saint valentine
my nougat heart never stood a chance against your white teeth,
toothpaste cheeks, dental degree.
plucking lovers from my heart-shaped box
it doesn’t take until wrapper, ribbon, tissue falls to the floor
and i unravel, my decorative layers pulled apart,
and, fuck this, it’s not even februrary.
it’s august, so i melt on your fingerprints
and coat your canines.
the entire organism of your mouth is
well-trained, vicious, a drug dog sniffing out my poison
that is so sweet, yet could put any hound to sleep.
and sleep you did- sick to the bone,
full gut, skin green.
my delicious insides a horrible gift:
the intimacy of consuming what your body could never accept.
you are dormant and dangerous
sweating through the blanket, sheet.
i am discarded somewhere near the waste bin.
feast of saint valentine your conquest, the evidence my plastic flesh
you succumb to stomachache in your bed,
flies like a halo around your head.
Interview with the Poet
1. What was your inspiration for this piece?
The inspiration for “feast of saint valentine” can be accredited to having your heart broken in the dead of August. Feeling like one has been used up, consumed for all their sweetness and treasures, then discarded; feeling sick in the heat, like a dog that had just eaten a box of chocolates. I was really captivated by the feeling of stomach ache, the cliche of Valentine’s Day metaphors when it wasn’t even Valentine’s Day, and the idea of a hound’s jaws just demolishing everything special and personal inside something that is so perfectly packaged and sentimental.
2. What is your creative process? (How do you go about writing or creating?)
Typically, my creative process starts with one line or image. These moments pop into my mind whilst awake and processing emotions or past experiences that I see poetic potential within, or oftentimes in my dreams, wherein I find myself to be the most creatively unhinged and exposed. I’ll jot down whatever idea I have that gets my brain moving (either in my notes app or the closest notebook/piece of paper), and from there I allow myself to play with whatever rhythm, rhyme scheme, and/or format begins to take place naturally.
3. What are some influences on your artistic process?
I’m very influenced by nature and weather, as I grew up and still reside in the midwest, where the weather is extremely drastic and variable. I often find my own moods and mindset(s) mirroring whatever is happening outside, in the sky, and/or on my skin. I also read as much as I possibly can; I’m very partial to realistic, dark fiction (both historical and popular) and confessional poetry. Reading is a huge part of who I am as a person, and opens my mind to new ideas, voices, and stories.
4. Is there anything more you’d like our readers/viewers to know about you or your work?
I consider my work to be very inconsistent, and highly personal. I love storytelling, but most of the stories within my poetry/writing are fabricated from my own experiences and emotions. It’s hard for me to disconnect myself and my writing in this way, and though I do want to immortalize my own voice and experiences and being within these words, I am so open to- and constantly craving- stories from those who are different from me, so as to understand and inspire my own craft. I am a white, able-bodied, queer person who performs feminitity and oftentimes feels very trapped within other people’s perception of me. I only wish to speak for myself, yet I want to be safe and soundproof for other marginalized voices and means of nontraditional and new feats within storytelling. I adore working alongside other artists and creators and writers who want to project their voices into this world and make it their own, as we (as young people) have been denied access to the world of literature and academia and poetics and creation for so long- both indirectly and very directly, as many marginalized and minority writers have experienced.