Cover That Shows Up and Gets You All Wrong
Most think the smudge is supposed to beyour spiritbut it’s the purple underneath
you inhabit.
Eraser debris I blow off the pageor swipe away with the back of my hand:
contact is rarely a choice made from this side.
Say you were told the life you’re inwas terminal like this one—
twice a year day & nightwould send friendship lanyardsof equivalent length.
I’d stay awake againto greet and throw them out.
And you?
Take this cover embody iton the discarded side.
We Are Often in Danger of Departing
At first you were fluid and the fluidwas safe. It heldgrowing. A napkin folded
around desire like a nutrient.Old and imminent,the spots of the guest within me.
As if two people togethercould fill a soul like the bathtub,frequent endings drained away your true end
before it could…
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The American Poetry Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2018