My body (which knows better) tells me it’s 6am
The clock insists, 7am
Anxiety fills my limbs, my contracted neck muscles, the concave chest that cradles what I always imagine is not a human heart behind rib bones, but a citris one
I imagine the sayings I might say, if I went mad
Things I’d blurt out in public
Citrus heart ripped open by iron teeth
Why they are iron, I am unsure
so – and -so, all the way from Coney Island!
Traveled far to escape the sideshow!
The stories I read seep in
The stories I ravel in fragments come together
The stories they told me heavy hold me like a thumb pushed up against the surfaces we are advised not to make contact with for fear of contamination
Those about who I am, should be
The pull of east coast time
The sanctions of an unwell m—
Dogs, dogs, dogs
Little dog
Big dog
3-legged dog, deaf dog, onehundredandfifteenpound dog, leaping dog, tiny, irreverent dogs
Home to my little boy with the eyes of a Foo Dog and a pig tail; the designer mutt
Reminder: it’s the last day for priority registration
Reminder: you cant afford a fucking house
Reminder: you are invited to the cliterary salon
Reminder: this event is cancelled due to Coronavirus
Reminder: the ship has docked at Oakland that left out of San Francisco
Reminder: Your rent is going up
Reminder: The man on the corner staring at your ass will tell you to suck his dick when you give him the finger. Tell him to suck his own dick.
Reminder: we are living through the pushback
Reminder: Poetry in groups, heals
End the night with Noodle Theory and a compassionate friend
Ask for what you want, warm curried broth
Get what you desire, equal interaction