927

my father tried thirty days
without a drink
but he gave up
“for the weekends
and pizza… with an IPA”

cheers, right?

I keep all my albatrosses
in a trunk by the bed
feed them little bits
of muscle and bone
to keep them alive

a woman once told me
to bury them
but she walked her albatrosses
like one would dogs
pampered and fed them
from her own mouth
so I hid mine away

I’ve had lovers say
they’ve never met another me
but they hate the things
I keep in the trunk

once I found a woman
that tried to take them out
and nurse them from herself
to ween them off of me
but I had long arms
and was prone to silence

how do I explain?

how do I offer prayers
to a stone obelisk?
and why would I pray
for its life when it
looks so content
without my hands
and my needs?

I’ve decided to keep
my lips shut
and find a rock
to smash into pieces
to make a necklace
and call it bone
to wear around my neck

and vanish in February snow