people keep speaking numbers of death

mother

father

20% chance of this

10%

40%

aggressive

nonaggressive

I thought those words referred

to school children

Nicer Than Bukowski

today
I devised a metaphor
on learning women

I said it is like
climbing a mountain

on your way up,
full of adrenaline
praising your own hard work

once a month you are
stuck in a blizzard,
screaming
"I'M GOING TO DIE OUT HERE"

some clear day,
you reach the summit

now you just have to
make it back down.

please don't touch
my liver I cringe and
shy away from
the knife
the needle
the whiskey

it is a lovely wake

palms flat
i smooth out
my dress and step
into the confessional

forgive me father for
my rosary is around
my rear view mirror
since i only fuck in my
car anymore

oh oh oh
he breathes
and pauses

can I get your number, father?
i ask without stopping

mars bar (she says scary shit)

we're running out of chocolate, she says
did you read that article too, scary shit
no what are you talking about
nevermind, protecting her from fear
we observe a bed full of wrappers
we eat when feel happy too

run, the shadow of my youth

How can I escape
the gauzy redundancies
of your white underclothes
bunched up to your thigh

perforations as doors
moth wings as couriers
luxuriantly furred

How can I escape
the triple chess game
the sweat on your brow
rolling to the crease of your lip

polar bears have it easy

the fabric of my T-shirt
is thinner than my
father's hair

I specifically did not
want to be naked
but
my nipples are traitors
sharing insider information
with the entire grocery store

oh, refrigerated food section
you are a cold mistress

acts of espionage
through
my cotton shirt--
two little betrayals
the size of
quarters

I Like Quoting Zack

I had a dream

the skyscrapers kept rising taller

all around me

I woke up in a tall building

the tallest in all the world it seemed like

the tallest woman on earth I felt like

but not much of a folk singer at all

and yes I am very much a Woman

I'm just stuck in a child-like search

less than three
is how much
i love
my book collection
my knitting supplies
the way the sun shines
through my curtains
whales, earrings, snacks

I'd rather be alone
than intimate with you


<3

they stand just like

the terra cotta soldiers

in rows on the field

while men scream in their faces

these are children of my generation

being packed up

saran wrapped in submission

roll them out,

the new shipment,

on the hot desert floor

watch them burn.

nice girls don't stay for breakfast

several times each year
the favorite infection comes to visit
it loves the tonsils so
it brings gifts of gold, frankincense,
—and pus
the man at the pharmacy proffers dxm
—for free no less

diving into a sea of sweaters
feeling like death microwaved for 0:30
feeling like the most blessed of robots

fast food at the speed of 25 mph

the differences between
cats and people:
negligible

barely more barbaric
hardly less civilized

my cat also looks out
the window and thinks

red robin
yum