15
what was my taste
then
but who could taste
me back or waste me
masturbate me
fuck me suck me
didn’t care if they
was ugly just
someone to meet me
beat me treat me rough
or kind or any kind
of touching me if it was
groping me or doping me
then raping me I took it
as a course in world affairs
but couldn’t keep up
with all the reading
all the bleeding
too big a world
and me too small
to take it all
in
Teenage Death Sonnet
teen death is real
I have seen her work
her way through a party
and later they dragged the lake
it’s mysterious when someone
cuts out from the circle
and suddenly you’re the dead girl’s friend
they know you as the dead girl’s friend
as if you aren’t already in danger
of disappearing like a tiger
at the circus, damned if you do
damned if you do, too (the sequel)
you live through all of this is the worst
that can happen, and the worst keep does
That Damn Mardi Gras Baby
Every year I’m the one
who cuts the king cake
right over its ear, the
little infant tumbling out
on its head with its rump
in the air, as if it’s begging
to be spared, its mouth still
covered in praline and berry,
caught snacking and smacking
its sugary lips. I have no
child except for you, my plastic
off-center kid, my future still
born in miniature prostration,
Barbie and Ken’s abortion
fished from the dumpster,
little Jesus without his manger
faceless as the future
balled in my fist, because
I cannot throw this little hope
away. I still might wish to
have a real one someday.
Try Me On For Size
when you’re young you got an ass
when you’re old you got a dog
when you’re old you got a dog’s ass
