I love Jesus and Kenny, whoever Kenny is. I’m a genius at dressage and my favorite food is tripe. You’re taking a late-night bath and sending me a pic. We plan the future: your desk next to mine on the second-floor landing. Yours is neater. We pick tyrants: the Party or the Church. Mississippi is blessed. Balkan is an abandoned resort with phenomenal PR. I’m Lady Illyria standing before you, skirt up, and you, tongue-out, kneel before me. It’s how I colonize America. Days butt each other the way the calendar taught them. They push through the square frames and defenestrate. We go to a wedding at the Spanish ruins. Even the Spanish ruins in America are American. A geriatric band plays “Stayin Alive.” The stage is made of magnolia leaves. People dance like horses. We drive down the dark interstate of the tongue and run over a hare. The nightsky rips open. A buck knife flashes its stiff blade. We go to a wedding at the ruins. A geriatric band plays “Stayin Alive.” On the stage made of linden Tomaž Šalamun is horsing around. The morning that’s been years in the making arrives filled with sleep. They find you. In a tub. In a river. Underground. I love Jesus and Kenny, and other stallions, too. Your obit is a skit. Is horsehit. You’re taking a bath. Sending me a pic. I’m looking at your face. I touch my face. Pater noster, etc. I’m bent over—Šalamun is doing a pirouette, his shirt ripped open.
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ONLY POEMS®️ and associated marks are trademarks of ONLY INK, Inc. All individual works are copyrighted by their respective authors. All poems, essays, and artworks published on this site remain the intellectual property of their creators and may not be reproduced without explicit permission. The views expressed in published works are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ONLY INK, Inc., its editors, or affiliated entities. While many works draw on lived experience, they may contain fictionalized elements; no reference to any real person is intended or should be inferred. ONLY POEMS is an ad-free, independent, reader-supported publication.
ONLY POEMS®️ and associated marks are trademarks of ONLY INK, Inc. All individual works are copyrighted by their respective authors. All poems, essays, and artworks published on this site remain the intellectual property of their creators and may not be reproduced without explicit permission. The views expressed in published works are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ONLY INK, Inc., its editors, or affiliated entities. While many works draw on lived experience, they may contain fictionalized elements; no reference to any real person is intended or should be inferred. ONLY POEMS is an ad-free, independent, reader-supported publication.