last four prose poems from 28 poem clusterfuck

Reverting

It never was a question of musical chairs (all elasticity aside). From this board we can see the chutes and ladders. The colors betrayed us all. The piles of flesh swarming at the base. The actualality of chutes. The finality of systems. Academia wasn’t the answer. We say if it tastes of sugar it must be sugar. We say if it tastes of sugar it must be rot. My ear sutured to your cheek you hear what I say, and I mouth-less, say much. We eye the horizon, our wounds festering. The entry point changes but the crater remains the same. That is, removed. Render me: a solution:: a revolution::: a man, half man, half woman, half molten, tree-tight, lite-brite.

Answer

A train comforter. That is, a security, a firm bond. We west this house from angry angrys. We false flag down a passing vehicle, say Is it about the letter, is it a question of notes shifting, a shoe stain, a bedding disaster? Vehicle says to we accelerate! We literal the meaning, speed-style. Flat footing the pavement that cracks and chutes. We eschew our boots, the strappy monsters. We must protect this house—squatter-style.

Literal

We communal our skin. Grant our ears that which we lack. The purple patches that mutate, the stern resistance. A system sponsored mutilation camp. We birdsong through a pinhole, a forgotten flesh flute. The sutures were never enough. This is not a test. This is a self exam. Succeed me love.

Love

When the fallout hits we will be alert. Alertness being the only place these revelations can take us. We will make our dénouement. We must protect this house from this house. We must become limber, malleable. We will forget the ways we knew each other. Forget the hair we loved to adorn. Forget the ears we never used. Forget the mouths we ate the others with. We meaty things, will forget that we knew what forgetfulness was. We will grow many pieces. Burn the ladders, the chutes. The words that ensnare, clever, and seditious. We will not be anti- we will be. We will hold bear words dear, that is, we will abandon them. The glow will be ubiquitous. It will be we, love.

An Elegant and Inviting Format

I think you are an elegant and inviting person

I like to have a conversation with you when we go out

I like to find exciting things to talk about with you that I never knew before

I think you have a beautiful hair cut and wonderful clothes


When I took your hand and we crossed the street to get to the other bar

I imagined you were a tiny sheep and I was another sheep on a mountain

We stared across the expansive mountains together

There was a raincloud coming but not for a while


That was a comfortable and warm feeling

I would like it if we both had animal bodies covered with fur

I would like it if we both had animal brains

We could stare at each other blankly for hours


We do have animal brains

We stare at each other blankly for hours

Sometimes, and sometimes we stare at each other purposefully

Over short glasses of drinks not knowing what to say


The faces we make have no real meaning for us

I only know what I know about myself

I don't know you in any possible way

You are as predictable as I am