Bliss I’m in heaven I’m halfway drifted away only a fool would understand how I feel today only an idiot could feel this joy only a moron or a girl they tried to turn into a boy only an imbecile could’ve taken me this far only a shattered adolescent could be wishing on a stupid … Read more

She arrives with a lot of birds on her back. They remain even as she comes into the house and stands by the piano. No, birds indoors this way do not bode well and they regret this. The zebra is afraid of the small room the parents make ready for her – it’s too dark … Read more

my love’s way beyond unrequited I need a new word now to describe the yearning of yearning for someone I’ve never even found me and Petrarch sitting in a tree he’s gonna be married long before me Estrellita’s is a world-class wit but her stuff is more than clever. It’s deep too. And it’s getting … Read more

I want to celebrate Christmas, my daughter announces. I want blow-up things on the lawn. She’s wonderstruck by our neighbor’s inflatable Mickey Mouse elves. Behind them, sunglass-wearing Santa, Frosty, and Rudolph sway, arms around each other’s shoulders. Rudolph must have a leak; his snout’s starting to pucker. Daddy’s family’s Christian, so why can’t we? Across … Read more

Shane MacGowan in corner, strumming a guitar: Oh, Kitty, my darling, remember, that the doom will be mine, if I stay, ’tis far better to part though it’s hard to, than to rot in their prison away… Lincoln, sitting silently, chin in hand, leaning slightly forward, just like the portrait painted of him. Enter Kennedy, … Read more

My father had one—a soul patch—when he was twenty-one. Flanked by ingrown hairs & stubble gritty like sand & rough to touch. I was three & recall when I hugged him his aftershave’s bergamot scent vivid as color, but you should know I did not see people’s colors back then. When my father said, all … Read more

Honorable Discharges at the Dementia Center don’t part your lips on the dementia ward unless you want to be crammed full of puree you’re in the company of mostly angels who’ve already made it past their judgment day don’t open your mouth on the memory unit unless you’ve got nothing to say you’re in the … Read more