Judy, October 2026
To save Bloomers, I am sacrificing _____.
This is the Community Poem, written by all of you. I am just a messenger. Tonight, each of you has offered something irreplaceable to be sacrificed.
On the first night, I lit a fire. On the second, I fed it my food. On the third, I fed it my words. On the fourth, I fed it my future. On the fifth, the fire quenched in hungry embers. On the sixth, only charcoal remained. On the seventh, take my offering and write a manic elegy. (Or if I did it wrong: “My bonfire and coals.”)
My virginity
My fertile womb
My father
Both my dads
My husband
The blood of a fresh lamb
Lambie, my toy lamb
My stuffed childhood bear
Every soft surface in my home
Every electronic device in my life
Every last one of them
In order to save Bloomers, I’m sacrificing my inability to whisper
I am courageously sacrificing my credit card and auto loan debt. Also the ear wax from my dog, lowkey a bitch to clean those ears sometimes, he loves it when I dig in there though…
I’ll stop drinking water
I give my soul to you
A third of my aortic valve
I have only my heart and love, and I cannot sacrifice that which I will freely give
100 delicious blueberries
Cabbage
Fresh tomatoes off the vine warmed by the sun
A banana
A cask of the finest Bordeaux
The taste of strawberries
The taste of garlic
The taste of coffee
My favorite condiment, ketchup
My favorite fork
My sense of smell
My tongue
The best homemade meal I’ve ever made
All the food in my freezer
All the hairs on my body that grew after I turned 12
My belief that I can save my mother from herself
My drunk cigarettes
The first cigarette after two glasses of red wine
Streamers University
Brakence
Jaywalking
Tucking in my top sheet
My dreams
My ability to dream
My dreams of being a professional juggler and maybe also this Shake Shack gift card I’m never gonna use
My humility
My dignity
A portion of my dignity
A grasshopper
A 15 pound bag of clay
A raincheck
I’m ready to return the granite rock I took from our backyard when I first left home
The ribbon around my neck that keeps my head from falling off
The concept of corduroy
The skin of my teeth, the hair of my dog, and the holla of my back, girl
The Oxford comma
You can have all my clothes except for one outfit and then I will be like a cartoon character with a uniform
My breastplate
My voice
My ears
My good sense
My patience
My ex
My love for my ex
My roommate and life partner Atticus’s tight frame
My cherished iPod touch
My Wassily Chair
My french perfume that I cannot pronounce the name of
My carabiner
My privated “cancelled bands” playlist
My Notes app (TAKE IT ALL, I SHALL REBUILD!)
My limited run copy of Dan and Phil’s “The Amazing Book Is Not On Fire”
My 2 foot wide 1945 dictionary
My undying love for the literary arts
My ability to create art
My ability to naturally eat dairy (not lactose intolerant)
Myself (please)
My comfort suicidal ideation
My first memory of blowing out dandelion seeds
My whimsy
My future of a stable employment
My left nut
Ressentiment
A lock of hair
Our nation’s forefathers
My buckets
