T-Shirts
Diminutive elderly
lady in the fuck
glioblastoma t-shirt
this almost obscene
late April snow
how wrong we were
about the spring
*
Grandma Morse grew
rude with dementia
at the sight of a Back
Yard Burger would
insist “I want a Back
Yard Burger” what
ever Mom had prepared
said she’d “choke it
down” eating the food
off our plates
*
I’m not drunk says another
shirt I’m not winking
at you I have brain cancer
An ant on Theo’s fingertip
blizzard bound refugee
and Theo wanting so badly
to shovel what by after
noon will have with dark
splotches
disappearance
watered the lawn
*
I swear Grandpa did
wink at me after we picked
him up at the adult
daycare center convulsing
Let My Tongue
Let my tongue be freely
infant. As my baby
daughter, let my tongue
baby-doo baby-dum
daughter son. Let my tongue
in morning heaven
hum vacuum
clean. But let my tongue
be orphan father clean.
Let one less father
cling. Father-lessened
heavenly absent of any city
name the infant enters in
to be interred as my coffin
closes lose my name, loose
my shadow free. Easy
as you say is Thy yoke
and egg white and every
Father’s Day bouquet
another omelet
excuse to eat sour cream
culminates empty
culm now vibrant light
in brevity.
Hiccup Theory
Hiccup as sudden
interruption
a rupture
of breath breach
in continuity
a sneeze
*
Dad suffering from
hiccups from
chemo
upside down would
“chug-a-lug”
as if waterboarding
himself his trick
was not to breathe
*
Diaphragm spasm
muscle partition
inside me may I ask you
to scare me please
make them stop
the messaging barrage
bombardment
My mind is under
attack is over
whelmed
*
The vax activates
cancer cells it’s happening
to a friend messages
Dad Naomi Wolf on Fox
News Monday
a conspiracy of wolves
exorcized foxes