"When the uniformed masses arrive and start blowing, measure the sway, if any." -Sawako Nakayasu, from Texture Notes

Feeling All Right

Each piece of me

that falls off of me

is more vital than the last

like starting with hair

and nails and working

its way up to feet

and hands and arms

always progressing

until I’m yelling

and I feel ridiculous

for yelling

like being in a cage

dropped into cold water

how is it possible

to feel so hot

when you feel so cold

and I wonder when it is

exactly that I stop being me

and when your bottom lip

trembles slightly

that’s the feeling

you should hold on to

"Now stand and shake that butt as though some god were shaking it for you." -Heather Christle, from The Difficult Farm

Richness

And didn’t your mother

ever tell you

that that’s the dumbest

thing I’ve ever heard

and that if I keep listening

that I’ll keep feeling

déjà vu

and it’s not really all that

bad on the other side

and didn’t she also

tell you to never listen

because she was terrified

you’d feel déjà vu

and that that isn’t even

a real feeling anyway

more a trick

tricking you to do what

"Don't believe the stories about life outside your town." -Suzanne Buffam, from The Irrationalist

Portrait Painter

I went to the pond

and swam to the middle

and submerged and began

breathing in as deeply

as I could

and all the fishes weren’t

living and the seaweed

wrapped itself around my

feet and it felt weird

and it must have been

around noon because

the sun was straight

above me

and if it had a face

I would understand if

it was smiling down at me

"The monochrome rainbow stuck to its wing." -Julie Doxsee, from Undersleep

French Singing, Isn't It?

I began to build bridges

from each house I’ve lived in

because it would be easier

to visit them that way

but then everyone started

using the bridges

without knowing the significance

that they meant to me

so I blew the bridges up

because who were they

to use my bridges like that

but now I can’t use my bridges

and that’s just how life goes

isn't it

"The knives are what hold him together. It is the notes that are slowly killing him." -Zachary Schomburg, from The Man Suit

Accidents

I felt like a child

and so I started

playing hopscotch

down the road

it began to rain

so I yelled

let it flood

right through

to my bones

and continued playing

but this rain was strange

it was liquid

but all the water

that landed

on me stayed where

it landed and began

weighing me down

eventually there was

a tower of rainwater

looming above me

threatening to crash

down on all the people

on this road

all staring at me

but I feel like a child

and so I play

hopscotch

because I just

don’t know better

or that’s what they’re

all telling me

in a strange chant

over and over

ah

dult

ah

dult

ah

dult

maybe if I keep playing

the water will crash down

like a huge tidal wave

and soak them

through to their bones

"When they are just too heavy to carry I become stronger than is possible and carry on." -Rachel Zucker, from Museum of Accidents

No Trace

I sold off my house

and bought an enormous

cardboard box

in this box

I started placing

all the things

that shaped me

my first pair of shoes

my high school diploma

my parents and friends

I went to the backyard

of my childhood home

and began digging

with a hand shovel

the house wasn’t haunted

so I placed that in the box

as well

I’ll keep digging until

I can bury this box

with me in it

lots of people call this

a time capsule

I call this my funeral

"Some days I forget we're more than a movie." -Matthew Rohrer, from A Plate of Chicken

Caffeinated

You go to the doctor

panicked

he asks what’s wrong

you tell him your soul

doesn’t fit right

he pokes you

and prods you

with various tools

in the chest

he tells you

he’s fixed the problem

it was simple really

you get home

you realize

that your soul

still doesn’t fit right

you put your arms out

but they don’t fall off