...

where we learned trust and
sincerity was one hell
of a damn good school.

...

if you hugged me now
i'd tense up and lose my nerve.
i'd give in that much.

...

when you said you loved
me, i was washing a cup
in the sink, thinking.

...

i have hurt many
people and the oak wood bar
doesn't move an inch.

...

a nail gun learns words
to speak but thinks better of
it all and just nails.

...

killer whales walk through
Target buying coffee pots
and new cutlery.

...

the liquor runs low
and the spirits run high. then
the tide just...slides in.

...

all of the voices
in the room cheer each other
on and slap asses.

...

raise your glass and then
keep raising to meet the next.
the clink is coming.

...

honk if you still can.
honk if you are still standing --
if it just missed you.

...

she reads a long book
jotting notes on a ticket
to some canada.

...

waves of bone and hip
stutter beneath her skirt. beach boys
mangle up the air.

...

children eat children
and it's no big thing, just fun,
sleepless and joking.

...

-How much is coffee?
-We're gonna fuckin kill you.
-How much is coffee?

...

Nerves emerge as stalks,
as corn waving in wind, break
the skin to the sun.

...

Compulsion whispers
or shouts depending on what
you're willing to take.

...

Marlen is nothing.
Nothing is Marlen. I like
nothing and Marlen.

...

A collapsed building.
Nothing lasts forever. I
will be that building.