Bambi & Flower

We lie flat &
Dream up skills
Proficiency and singing
Making space & bed
Keeping up I want to
Keep up.

bent over and reading

your face leaned over
was an upside down mountain
some sleeping man in spain
of rocks piled up high and worn away

out liar

a hundred untouchable black satin curls
a handful of purple forgettable girls
a moment of lemonade after a kiss
betrayed and delicious in Senegal's bliss

the rope of your meaning a lovely old clock
rusted and rotten and wrapped in a sock
carried to thailand and sold in bangkok
and finally forgotten and smashed with a rock

the weaker beholden to belittling strength
stroked up and down the hot link of your length
delicious but rarely to stroke your black curls
purple forgiving ridiculous girls

knee-jelly afternoons rocked in a kiss
traded to mysteries, re-dubbed in bliss
carried along like the tick of a clock
rusted and rotten and wrapped in a sock.

test days is the best days

i read the directions miss
i checked my answers
oh ok
wait no you didn't and you sealed your test booklet inside
and left 20 answer spaces blank
did you read the directions
no i didn't read the directions
carefully open it up without tearing it
this is so illegal
lucky you filled in those answers
39 is passing

this test was easier
that's good
you still failed

why are you taking this test high
you reek of marijuana
and it's not the first time
you got a 3
if you weren't stoned do you think you would've got a 4

i read your essay about public parks
you said the city is a nice big city because it's nice and big
and then you said some things that weren't so redundant
and you nailed the task and scored a 5

this is too hard
i can't do it
i don't get it
this is why you need to start coming to school
i'll do better next time miss
you don't want to take a 6 hour test again
do well the first time
if home life is so bad then school should be your sanctuary
i know you don't want to hear it but you need to be here
miss i didn't say i didn't want to hear it

TWO

Dressed as Luke Skywalker
I filled my pillowcase at Uncle Joe's
(who wasn't really my uncle)
and other houses down the road
I was such a sweet talker

Dream about being loose on stage.
Drunk like Jerry Lee? Maybe without
the shiny plastic pants. Still,
slippery and in control.