He made it possible. He was formerly a fabulist. 
He was faceless, but he was ugly, graceless 
and he made everything disappear.  

aligning 
as fingers 
deftly dance 

on checkered 
smooth plastic 
disco stage 

Adam’s countenance: beer cask-heavy 
his eyes: glazed shallots 
his smile: a split itself 

Now take away the need 
for moisture and the deteriorating  
qualities of autumn. The veins   

and stems will release as well.  
Take away the release. Take  
away the seasons.

When Taylor Swift was at the gym in Japan  
she watched the muscled back of a man   

moving up and down a heavy machine 
made by other heavy machines for men.   

of spontaneous human combustion,  
of pictures with the Cherry Hill Mall Santa, 
of a stapler after getting my wrist stuck to my teacher’s green bulletin board, 

and on the tv 
a drag queen 
sharing her recipe 
for sun tea  

asks us if we want to  
watch her take a break 
and we take a break   

Honeywell closed their Minnesota plant quietly
and the addition of warning stickers on album covers
would save the children along with D.A.R.E., Nancy
and Tipper directing the conversation, for some reason.

I read, I traveled, I, Lina, thief’s daughter, a discarded toy by the campfire 
at night, my planets – burned by sparks, 
burned by coincidences, in my eyelashes – stalagmites of ashes. 

Because Phil Collins is for fools and old ladies.  
Because the ocean’s too wide a body of water  
for a commando to cross alone. Because gentlemen  
never kiss and tell, and soldiers never share  
their kill count. Because you teach the meaning  
of words like ‘amorous’ and ‘varnish’ and ‘leave.’  

Women multiply miracles, raise dough for loaves, reel in sleek fishes, French-manicure-cling to beloveds’ wishes. Nevermind they’re too broke, too busy, too blue cuz compassionate women put others first and I love that too.

every second we spend together he slips further away, 
replaced by some incarnation I’ll understand only 
when it is time to say goodbye/hello.  It’s cruel  
this constant leave-taking, I think 

Was this how they partied in the South—campy  
gay guys and their campier girlfriends—I longed 
to chew the fat with them for hours. Skinny dip 
in their Georgia moonlight after 25¢ beers.   

The mystery of Black Moon Lilith repeats and repeats
into itself: It is an
empty space, It is what happens 
when we die. 

So that the jumbo popcorn in the movie
theater scene must be tempered with 
a discussion about extra butter, a shaming 
and a shushing, crushing the soft white 
fluffiness of a kernel sprung brilliantly 
into a flat bug on the floor. A joy-kill.