Dear Sal

dear sal,

thank you for reminding me what I need to do

but it’s easier to sit and ossify

my body’s started hurting with the circus that I run it through

and I feel dumb

talking around the stones in my mouth has grown tiresome

my teeth are breaking

someone will find them on broadway like sand dollars crushed on a beach

dear sal,

I might have forgotten how to do it

eight little beginnings and no ends

fetuses without heads

I think they’re waving their inky little arms at me

hands outstretched in X’s, their silent crying

incessant, terrible O’s

dear sal,

I see my chakras glow like neon

feebling through the molten folds of flesh

the fluorescent pulses of my throat and head dim gray

my heart smolders

my sex is a bright star

dear sal,

everything concerns me

nothing interests me

I begged Mary back but she didn’t come

so I was alone

dear sal,

what do people talk about who have nothing to say?

people who don’t read the newspaper,

haven’t read hegel.

do they sit in the sun and talk about the sun and the

way their skin grows pink

I must go eat ink or cut a hole into my thigh

(2009)