Two Poems

Signal and Sway

everything              vibrates             and we           get to            feel                   con                   cen              tration has           the Love even        saying Magic with          embarrassment                                  i fail the                                  end of                               suffering                       with you           boots bought 10 years    ago by      younger man      same name                        every             vibrating                  thing             bared       teeth ahead                  visible                     for                   some                    time an invitation                     to the fist             so adorable                       trembling                                   for                       predators              excuse me               i meant to             say fuck you                       knives coming                             down                                       trying                                  to eat it                   is it the emotional distance of the waitress you come for?             aria of snail               ticking smaller                 in the sound        breathing louder in the light how long can we believe         this world             belongs to us?                   is it a                 toilet or              grave being                  made? he answers   by asking            is it a cartoon               or fiction? Amber Zoom Lens There Is (There Is Not) Confusion if i die old they can’t say God punished me or is Hell the punishment? hard to keep the threats straight tomorrow i’ll climb into the cellar of the burned down house there’s always one more thing shiny buried deep inside today being angry my tax dollars purchased bullets not books we reach the trains pushing and running to find plenty of seats plenty of time when my friends are in pain i cry with them but not with strangers are there not enough tears? it’s exhausting imagining tears refusing the job what was the song my father hummed to save his mind in the cardboard box factory? no let’s not remember so much to forget to relax to sleep better you want to forget what you did to me go ahead i understand i will want to forget what i will do to you one day after a little while nothing’s as clean as new crying with friends is clean ignoring strangers is nothing but layers of stain did your hamburger have feelings? does my question annoy you? well here’s another do you always embrace torture and murder with pickles and sauce? “it”s better than nothing” is no comfort with nothing close at hand the house is emptied by fire one night the train still takes you there dinner cocktails hungry and thirsty it’s strange what we expect from no one home every morning is not like every morning this morning as much light as possible sitting right in it

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