🥭 "Let's eat roe."

Intimacy: 4

Remember restaurants, you guys? Remember how good it was to dine at a table amongst a crowd of strangers? This week, we’re so excited to present two works that remind us of the intimacy of shared eating. 

First up is Happy Friday, a poem by Tana Oshima. We adored this submission for its beautiful portrayal of the anxious energy of new intimacy. And also, we’re suckers for any poem about fish eggs. Food in general, actually. Tana’s poem begs a new lover to “take / my breath of undone meat” while examining the ways we meet and the feeling of canceled plans. 

The poem also begs a lover to “feed me with your spoon.” Deeply relatable. Whether you’re big spoon, little spoon or spoon left alone in the dishwasher while all the other spoons seem to be stacked up in the utensil drawer, you hope you’ll find something intimate about Peter Clarkson’s painting, 2 scoop. Does it look like two spoons together or do you think they’re separated? Do you see anything reflected in the spoons? Tweet us @tartmgzn and let us know what you think about this week’s submissions. 

Lost your retainer? Your friends? Your sense of motivation? Some combination of all three? We’re pleased to announce the Tart newsletter theme for May is Lost & Found. 

This month, we want to hear about what you’ve lost and how it was regained. We’re looking for unique and unusual interpretations of this theme: for example, parts of yourself you didn’t notice leaving until they had already detached and your voyage to regain them; perhaps you learned that some things are best left lost. We’re looking for the most creative ways you can interpret this theme. Hit us with a curveball. 

Once again, the newsletter is open to all forms of creativity. Send in songs, stories, paintings, TikToks, poems, essays, collages, thought-provoking recipes (yeah, we’ll publish them), choreography, whatever you’ve made. People of all ages and from all locations are welcome to submit. (Seriously — we want to see what your kids are making.) We’ll accept submissions on the theme of Lost & Found until May 22. 

REMINDER: We are open to submissions on a rolling basis for our weekly newsletter. The earlier in the month you submit, the better chance your submission has of being published. Please only submit once per theme/month.

2 scoop

By Peter Clarkson

Acrylic on wood, 2020

---

happy friday

By Tana Oshima

how many bodies fit in a head

i want you near me so

close like this cup burning in

my hands like my cat’s sandpaper tongue

on her back on

the hill where i move between

quicksands

my stomach

overflows

you are a body and a name and a

void that doesn't answer

like a showcase doll

whose nails i painted one day

i call you i invite you all of a sudden

after canceling a hundred

a thousand first dates i call you and i tell you

let's eat roe

cod sturgeon salmon roe

somewhere in union square

let's eat roe until they don't

fit in our mouths and when we’ll 

kiss we’ll exchange roe

of different colors

let's exchange

let's eat let’s put

our stomachs upside down

i mean with our mouths lips

down there down where we like

to meet and speak in another language

or so I believe while i fall in love

with the doll in the shop window

tell me hello tell me something

before we eat and exchange

tell me more than hello

tell me the hours tell me

the numbers the

anger you feel when you imagine

the cat the cup the plant dying the

sun that drowns the 

night that hones and

narrows

tell me

you are a father you are a friend a brother a lover

tell me

do you want to meet down there

i don't like you doll

give me your name and your body take

my breath of undone meat

love me halfway like the moon until

we lose our voice

feed me with your spoon

those roe full of embryos swimming in saliva

i cancel our date i wear my pajamas

i brush my teeth for the first time in a decade

i chew devour deglute imagining

you are on the other side

of the roe on the other side of the

embryos on the other side of the

thick tasty liquid that

drips out of my mouth over

the burning cup in front of the

TV which i don't know how to turn on

i am turned on

but

i just wanted to

talk about the moon.

---

About the Artists

Peter Shugart lives and works in San Antonio, Texas. Home of the Alamo.

Tana Oshima is a writer and a comics artist based in New York. Her works explore the intersections between language (poetry) and image. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @tanaoshima.

✨LAST SLICE✨

The Animal Crossing soundtrack is a blissful and weirdly grounding listen all on its own, but it's also the foundation for some extremely good remixes. I've been working to this Spotify playlist from the video game music label GameChops for days. It's called “Animal Crossing & Chill,” because of course it is. — Chloe