I sat at my desk and contemplated all that I had accomplished
this year. I had won the hot dog eating contest on Rhode Island.
No, I hadn’t. I was just kidding. I was the arm wrestling champion

He gets back in the car, resting a plastic tray of nachos on his jeans. I smell the salt, the corn, the nacho cheese, its under-smell of plastic, the way his hair smells when he hasn’t washed it in a few days, gasoline.

I wish my pussy could live 
in a different shape and get
some goddamn respect.

Japanese Poems:

Between the bent boughs  
of the splayed sumac, the silver
owl rests his head

Tired of the eighties, and the on-
going crisis in masculinity—the compliment 
each generation pays itself—he stared 

More and more, along the shore
of the Northeast Corridor, 
birds are standing in alcoves like telephone booths

The hospital lobby was lined with short 
and long views of Audubon’s birds,
the tallest ones’ necks curved, all the way

I was looking 
for the two 
black men

The tent men arrived bearing sledgehammers
and were young enough to be my sons.  
After rolling out the canvas, they drove rods 

The transfer is done in a dark room
with a red light to keep them calm.  
Still, it’s stressful, hanging upside down,