Claudia Maurino
HOW TO MAKE A UNIVERSE
have two friends
and a lot of wine
sit on mis-matched stools at a townie pub
and shout above the dusty, rural din
about shaving your legs and make up and first kisses
how to be a good feminist, how to fail a little
then get in the car, take a wrong turn, take two
and wind up where you thought you weren’t going
then follow that asphalt till it bleeds
into the sky —and then drive there
keep going till the stars become a fine mist
like snowfall, like sparklers, like the glint
in your headstrong friend’s eyes
and come down to earth, not with a kiss, not lightly
but with a smack, with a laugh
(hot, heavy, from your sternum), laugh
a laugh that takes something from you
and gives it back like a magic trick
return home and do not be tired
plan a life you couldn’t possibly live
and gossip (you must— you are women)
and knit your words into a day you can wear tomorrow
and chalk it up to learning, to experience
(“experience” she said
that’s the only reason I ever wanted to do anything anyway)
Claudia Maurino is a poet and actor from western Massachusetts currently studying theater, gender studies, and English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her poetry has been published twice each in both the school’s literary magazines, Jabberwocky and The Scribe, as well as in Sixfold Magazine. She won a Scholastic Gold Key for poetry in high school and self-published a chapbook during the pandemic. Beyond poetry, Claudia is passionate about all things theater, writing and performing sketch comedy, and doing crossword puzzles.
