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1. |
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You don't embarrass me I'm shameless. I don't want to like you.
You are so gross, it hurts. You know I'm not a sailor like you.
The hills are alive with the sound of wrappers and Chex Mix lint
snacks in your purse. I swear, the buffet wore a face that looked like you.
Gossip is the currency here, and blushing girls.
You said, "There's a special dungeon for flirts like you."
I sleep on my belly so I can't see the street
sticky with sweat in a threadbare shirt, just like you.
I am unstable
But at least I speak clear! I don't mumble and slur like you.
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2. |
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Just another mouth to feed
with a leg to hump.
I left my innocence
at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.
How did I get home last night?
What tore my party shirt?
Was it what fleeced me down
by Signature Iron Works?
What wet my fitted sheet?
Pockets spotted ballpoint blue.
Just what was the final straw?
I disappointed you.
It doesn't matter anymore.
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3. |
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You said, "Come on the trip,"
and I agreed.
I was eating chips
and coming off of speed.
Sighing
through some half-assed art thing.
Loading equipment on the truck.
Pouring from a bottle in a mug.
And with the first drop you gulp -
sharper focus.
Cry in the rain.
Drop in the the ocean.
Dripping
salsa into a sink.
Curl up with a half pint on some gross sofa.
Spreading cashew butter on a cracker
in your grow hut.
Shine my little light
on warm Colorado mud.
You said, "Don't look when I dip
in this Utah lake.
I've had far too much
of your face today."
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4. |
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Don’t stick your fingers in the cage. Don’t feed the animals.
Don’t set your drapes on fire with a smoldering ear-candle.
Don’t smoke-out your dog. Never relax. Never Relax.
I’m just an old romantic.
You’re just an old romantic in search of a mucous membrane.
You always poke the bear. You always feed the flames.
Don’t feed the fish.
Feed the fish at your own risk. Please don’t feed them too much.
Please keep this quartz point for me. Turn my bad luck.
Don’t turn out the light. Don’t steal all the covers.
The moon is wearing brass knuckles.
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5. |
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When she said, "You make me nervous when you're pacing.
Are you ever comfortable? You can't put your feet up in your coffin."
It hurt my feelings. This life of leisure tests my patience.
I said, "Don't you know I trace your outline in the carpet when I'm walking?"
You can't put down roots into a moving target.
Was I functional? I thought only cowards heeded caution.
So now am I a useless thing? Oh I am always so uneasy.
And absence makes the heart grow fonder is the hardest pill to swallow.
Then she said, "It serves you right for playing chicken.
If we eat the stars out of the sky, will they still shine like diamonds? Will they twinkle in our shit?"
Then when I said she was fickle, like: "You could hardly spot me in a lineup,"
She countered, "You're too sensitive passion that's impersonal is timeless."
She said, "Take this sitting down," so see me sitting pretty.
"Your waffling exhausts me. Can't you take a stand with confidence?"
She was leaking like a faucet drip, drip, drip, drip, drip.
I said, "Love, my love is unambiguous throbbing like the pressure in my sinuses."
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6. |
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you spit up last night
and you said it looked black.
did you give up your fight?
has your jawbone grown slack?
she followed you right.
her front touched your back.
did you ever look twice?
did you ever get smacked?
you made love last night
and her pupils looked black.
then you switched off the light
and you rolled onto your back.
and you felt so right,
with your lines down pat.
if you were so bright,
you would've seen through that act.
she cut across your face, slapped your cheek, marked you up for her.
what she would leave behind smelled, took her scent, and it took your breath away.
laying down her weight, pressed your legs with her fingertips.
you stripped her down, kissed down the down on her dry, chapped lips.
was it "she met your gaze" or "she just shielded her eyes from you"?
say it straight, she say, "stay calm, don't you get carried away."
you split up last night
and your future looked black.
you said that it was alright
you never planned to get trapped.
you should've seen the light.
you could've cleaned up your act.
there's no turning back,
no, there's no turning back.
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7. |
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Sweeten my honey with sugar.
Cooloff my coffee with creamer.
If we make it through December,
Will you make it up to me?
You make me sick.
You look like an absolute living dream.
Sweeter than strawberry butter.
Swallow your snot when you sneeze.
You look like a toddler,
Wiping your face on your sleeve.
You’ve taken a turn for the worse.
Seems like you’re braver than Jason.
Maybe I’m chicken.
No memories left to erase.
I won’t miss them.
Can’t hide your fat with that stubble.
Fogup your mirror with steam.
Can’t understand when you mumble.
I never know what you mean.
How low can you go?
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8. |
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Did you say you were barren?
Did you think that was wishful thinking?
Was that why you were wide-eyed?
Did you light right up?
Oh what bright Wisconsin trash!
Are you scraping by barely?
Scraping the bottom of the barrel?
Was that the blouse you were wearing?
Did you bring enough to share?
Bring it out on a platter!
What were you starting to say when I coughed?
Did you lose the nerve, when I cut you off?
Did it feel glamorous?
What a clean cut that was!
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9. |
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Cube of ice in my cup. Winter coat. Riverboat, quote unquote. Sun comes up and it matches my shoes.
Bright yellow. Say, "Hello Iowa! No new news!" This shallow talk is nice. Buffalo on my rumpled shirt.
Lashing out, fashionably.
This sunrise interrupted my total grief. Photographs don't. Photoshop. What's the actual use of sorrow?
Does it show? Teal, aqua, turquoise. Blues are hollow. Fear blue eyes. Drown in oceans, gulping and
gasping. Waves crash. Heartbreak sea.
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10. |
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She was stark-raving, cradled her cocktail in her palm.
She was stuck on that man so fat the moon of his beergut and glasses.
She said he had a sea-foam shelf, set next to his bed in his bedroom.
And on top of that shelf, she balanced a handle of daisies.
He was so mad.
He was so mad.
And why did she still stick with it?
It never seemed to serve her well.
He would fool around on her.
He was no fine specimen.
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11. |
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I am always walking on Gravois.
Swing my arms like hammers nailing.
Could we two flee to sunny climes?
Who am I kidding.
Not aging well.
Sliding downward slope.
You're crying in a saucer of milk.
Tears are dripping down your ski slope nose.
Can that shook face, you’re not squeamish.
It wasn’t easy becoming like this: so easy.
You said you would stop short of begging, but just short.
And you thought the raindrops would drop-off like glistening sweat.
You look like a chicken
With that white lace dress,
And your golden cheek fat,
When you’re blushing.
So wrap your legs around me
Like a belt around the sun.
Do you melt when it rains on you?
Do you flinch when you’re touched?
Oh yes, I caught you roll your eyes in my rear-view reflection.
I know that I’m not the one.
I know that I’m not the one.
I know that I’m not the one.
I am just the employee of the month.
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released April 21, 2016
