07/01/2010
1
Cleaning ladies sit in their cars
behind the house,
parked like drug dealers
guarding the premises
2
You're the one
people want to hang out with
to feel good
but always being happy
is hard work.
3
I burn my tongue
on apple cider,
just like mom used to make it;
from a packet.
4
I don't always know
where my iPod is.
Just at noon, when it starts
shrieking at me
to take drugs
so I won't go into withdrawal
and make children.
5
If we got enough of us together
we could take over the world
by freezing in place
to convince onlookers
they had gone mad.
6
My dog eats more fruit than I do;
I wonder if we could switch diets
7
These flowers were purple
before I put them in blue dye water.
Now they're just brown.
Okay, I lied.
They're orange.
8
More often than not,
I wish society didn't condemn
bestiality;
I get along with my dog,
we like all the same foods
and he doesn't argue.
So what's wrong with us
curling up together
to sleep?
9
My first boyfriend
was actually the neighbor's cat.
He kept me company while I babysat,
and twined around my legs
as I went upstairs,
always trying out difficult questions
to trip me up.
10
Color work knitting is gorgeous,
but I can never decide if I like the Right Side
or the Wrong Side
when I do my projects.
11
When I begin to miss you enough
I start to write
and imagine it's your hand
guiding my pen.
12
I just want a chance
to see her face
and ask why
she lets herself be manipulated.
And then I want to pull the strings I tied,
and watch my puppet
dance.
13
I had him singled out
from the first time I saw him,
but I think he
didn't actually see me
until after
we were too far apart
to touch.
14
I use the pill
like an adult advent calendar,
to count down the days
until I get to hear his voice to me again.
Oh, it's Thursday.
Just one more week.
15
I keep porn sites bookmarked
to leave open on my computer
so it won't look
like I'm hiding anything.
But really,
the third link over
is just a picture of him,
sitting cross legged,
staring at the grass,
smiling.
That's the page
I always X out of
when I hear footsteps
coming upstairs.
16
I found a corpse
in the shower,
once.
It was only a bug,
but still!
It was dead.
17
Chocolate wrappers tell me
to dream and go for it.
If I went for my dreams,
this reality
would cease to exist.
18
My mom corrects
my dad's spelling
and pen color
like accountants will disqualify
a check
if it's made out
in two different shades
of black.
19
I was up
a long time last night
and by a long time
I mean I didn't
go to bed.
20
I like making out checks
in strange colors
using my fountain pens.
I want a red,
something deep and dark
mysterious maybe
like the Japanese
"Iroshizuku"
Momiji.
A red to make the teller blink
and secretly wonder
if it's made out in blood.
