Wash Day
Issue 19
Bobbi Newsome
2026
I gotta stretch first breathe deep roll my shoulders
arch my spine I gotta unwrap you snap rubber-bands
crack fingers pop elbows loosen silk & satin
have you naturally undone in my bathroom get you wet
bubbling in my eye dripping down my arms
grab the oil be slick give your dampness shine
add a light scoop of cream make you softer spread it as I please
work you open rub out all the knots my fingers
glide right through you twist you up & pull you
scrunch you up ‘til something beautiful shakes
loose
I got shoulders limp off the bone
I got fingers pruned back sore & aching
greased lightning when we go outside call it magic
Bobbi Newsome is a performance poet in her Senior year at Susquehanna University. She’s majoring in Creative Writing and Publishing & Editing with double minors and she serves as the Historian of THE Black Student Union. She loves language, food, and music, and often draws inspiration for her writing from her favorite songs. Ideally, Bobbi wants to live in a small house filled with plants and tea, but in light of capitalism, she’ll settle for a job surrounded by literature; her first love.