Issue Four: Coming October 1
swimtrunks in a washing machine
hug my lungs against your low-cut tanktop to ensnare (with talons) my attention
my dripping canopies streak my thick cut black-rimmed glasses
waterfalling down your neck - falling to the vegetation laden bottom where my eyes cannot see
without a flashlight, binoculars, and some bravery -
these moments inside the inside of college parties
a cemetery of the died too young, very alive and kicking
they move in VHS fast forward when our tape is stuck on pause
they smell like marlboro smoke smells and love like earthworms love each other and the rain
those options are too simple for an intellectual like me
i insist you kill me in the middle of my greatest compliment to you
under the perfect crescent moon and just cold enough for a lovely red sweater, maybe d.i.y scarf
a tiny white wax stream will fall from our candlelit dinner table
in a house up the road, someone will fall unconscious from drinking too much cheap beer
across town, a woman will propose to her girlfriend / they'll fly to massachusetts to get married
my brother back home will crash his thunderbird and blame it on his drug habit
right in front of you at exactly 9:36pm EST on a friday night, i will smile and pass you a note under the table
----
shh, shh i love this song
where are those tympani heartbeats?
soft and low rooted in the chest; almost gastrointestinal
a riptide of salty plankton and orca whales
scattered across a snowy beach / last things (last)
night. I know you said to
stop
coming to the cemetery when you're at work
but damn if you wouldn't make the cutest corpse -- dressed in waning moonlight.
----
half cheese, half feta (please)
banana fudge swirl grace kelly - a beauty that bl
indeed how much did it cost? nothing, it was stolen.
”new york city” pretty much sums up my feelings
green grasses have puddles just because i asked you to go on a walk
go with me to see alkaline trio – i’m sure that you are leaning
that way anywho. “clavicle” is a song about you. talk-
ing at stoplights and stealing kisses behind their backs
the rapidfire photobooth or the one that is slow but develops your freckles -
we are ready for a wet hot american summer, or maybe just the movie cracks
us up. it was the first we watched together on your bed. wonderfully splashing: a puppy
playing in the pond is as close as to your articulation of language as i can come
olive juice and i love you, try mouthing it sometime it means the same thing
the way the covers hug your thighs and the sight of them, a crumbl -
ing boy you make me. half cheese, half feta (please).
----
gabriel / a low flight into the face of the pearly gates
I’m gonna grow some wings and sing in the choir
into the pitches of the hummingbirds static
can you see their flapping wings -
they go so lightspeed.
and i’m gonna sing, oh yeah i’m gonna sing
as loud as the war on the television tells me
where does it matter - our place in the line
up. blood leaving a trail right back to me
it’s harder to deny when you see the grass stains
covered in your kidney beans and chicken bones
as well as my fine china knives
I’m gonna grow up and learn how to love
into the sonnets of Shakespeare
can you feel his heart bleeding out -
it pours every second in the rain.
is it worth me trying
like giving in and fighting back and just not caring either way
there’s always a risk of dyin’
soon. my eyes are going to stay closed
and she won’t make a whisper of breath
but the snow will hit so much harder on the day
your heart becomes part of the soil - when the permafrost keeps it locked away
I’m gonna grow my teeth and learn to eat
into the flesh of a lover
can you hear her screaming loud -
safely at home inside the bedroom shrouds.
this failure has always tasted better
sweet and sour peppermint plants
plead me guilty i give in
to you. i grew up into gabriel
sang in the chorus and learned to love
got my revenge and sent her back to god.