—THERE’S AN OLD LADY STARING AT ME, AND I’M PRETTY SURE HE’S CALLING THE COPS

 

 

 

                                  somebody call a nurse

 

 

I used to be / pre-packaged / for dying / just a stick of / embalmed jerky / now I don’t know / what I don’t know / now it’s purely supposition / a French exit / lying flat-backed / on a rickety gurney / wondering if we could / trade in our tracksuits / for a flank / of new skin / could we request / new flesh / tell the walls to / hold their tonsils / a little tighter / a little more stringent / I don’t know / how I’m supposed to answer / what you never ask / it’s as if I’m your / lover’s shredded ghost / hovering inside a chimney / waiting for the sweep / though I spent yesterday / performing a faulty exorcism / on myself / choking in a / claustrophobic broom closet / wishing I wasn’t / anaphylactic / but praying / something bladed / was stuck / in my throat / nice and tight / serrated and sharp / if you wanted / I’d refund your mercy / be the float for / your most garish parade / you could ride / me through town / blame my mother or / just accuse me / wave down a hearse / or else forget / I was ever / on your mind / that one time / that one year / that false day / when you were a virgin / and I felt like / I might be / one, too