Hothouse

Monday, I am a raccoon
clutching a coffee mug
digging through the trash
of my inbox. Wearing
sweatpants and hoodies
in the winter but,
the rest of the year
I wear pajama shorts
and pretend they are pants.
But I always have a real
shirt. Sometimes it even
has buttons.
I work my real job
typing on a real computer
making fake images appear
on a real monitor for real
people who were once fake
personas corporate dreamt up.
Real people on a Monday
clutching a coffee mug
sifting through trashy ads
on a real screen searching
for a real job for themselves.
I am sure half of them are
not wearing pants.
I like to believe it’s to be
comfortable, but I know
they’re just sitting on a real toilet.

Divya Goruganthu is currently a Creative Writing Honors student at ACC, although most of her daily writing consists of writing technical manuals and emails. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, after which she decided to explore her creative side by writing screenplays, essays, poetry, and short fiction. Her work has been featured in The Rio Review and Voicemail Poems She is also the 2024 Winner of the National Innovate Poetry Competition. When not at school or work, she enjoys salsa dancing and hiking.