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fail to see the story within fifteen seconds

& the whole event dies. when the phone

rings I know exactly who it is. in this new

decade the battle is logging off for good.

I keep needing to hurry over the news.

I worry hello will become extinct. my little

boy remembers his numbers. I place an ear

by the box. he counts the world in billions.

my future has sprawled itself over your last

solar panel. your future is brokering a deal

with the moon. tomorrow. this earth will be

dead & we’ll be the only living things. a man

I love asked if I was planning to never speak

to him again. I lifted a cornflake out his beard.

rubbed camphor over his knees. in which of

these great directions should we grieve? held

hostage by another person’s version of us.

the boys I grew up around never could trust

the smiles of dancers. in an hour or so I’ll get

my tongue pierced. breathe spinach steam

before heading to tell my doctor how I like

my steak. cruelty is spending your life beside

the same flower only to have it go die first.

my MP digs burnt strawberries from out his

neck bone. begs to borrow a light. I might try

another prison visit. Athos is back in. I might

ask you to take a photo of me standing outside

my roughest dream. whatever I gift my hands

melts skin. I’ve been pushing plastic into the

center of fish since the 80s. all my opinions

are back on the market. I’ve been bad for so

long being good is the grin of my enemies.

experts reckon air moves through the larynx

to produce a single human voice. I don’t care

about any of this. hey. I’ve been waiting for

the best time to ask you which way my life

went. such a private beast is the head.