...

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.

milk of amnesia

If your memory
serves you well, fuckin' toss it
and buy a new one.

...

Pelvis bone shattered.
Forced entry. Rape. Entire
family inside.

...

Pills like basketballs.
Cheeks split quick like bags of chips.
Keep trying. Swallow.

...

Behind the ER
patients covered in semen
shit themselves, want more.

...

A doctor holds you.
Your family watches him
break through the sternum.

Slowly

A fistful of lips.
A clamp firm around the jaw.
The gums separate.

...

Veins tied to door knobs.
There are teeth inside the meat.
Don't think. Slam it shut.

...

Muscle like cut fruit.
A peach pit of bone, tendon.
Scrape the face to juice.

...

I love you. I love
you. I love you. I love you.
I love you. So...uh...

debit

I run the tab up
on your hairline, mastercard
runs thick down your cheeks.

this is my talent!

Let's construct buildings
and leave them empty. Mine will
be huge, functionless.

Onward!

You've built the perfect
car: big, red, fast. And you don't
care where you're going.