It recommended
soft porn, as gentle prodding and petting parent
to parent might calm and soothe the kid.

you quit wearing pants
loaf around your yard
in hole-nipped panties

Long after midnight, we’re talking about our first time

Long after midnight, we’re talking about our first time

Mostly he ate what was put on his plate
snuck coffee grounds or dirt for a snack
Once a zipper Unzipped

In my universe, my arm carries a heart and flowers,
my back a misguided quote

The sin is existing.

Ma wrings
a wet world
of colors

Winter sat like a wolf
on the horizon.

Gravel-scatted hell &
we were blessed to be able
to hold on for even a heartbeat

There is so little left of the tomato plants.

You are strange, my mother said, dwelling on the past.

He has stories that I am not in
anymore. It’s healed this way.

Should have found a job by now; should have slept in the night;
should have boiled old coffee before noon.

I am not a guide
for every traveler
of loss.

the strands of your hair on the bathroom tiles aren’t sketching defeat. that’s you spitting disease in the face with another day you’ve woken up to.

Okay, picture this: We’re in an elevator. The elevator shuts down. It doesn’t matter where we’re going, only that we’re alone.