I was not impressed. I did not want to be
you with a prophet’s name, posed—
Someone in an accent of seduction whispered salmon.
You plus me: the equation of initials equals love?
The room filled with smoke and sawdust:
a world of Netscape, chat rooms and Fruit by the Foot.
It is unbearable to watch, as if
humans were extra/ or already gone—
I said, “Love me better or go to hell.”
Relay a little venom to my darling:
Let her live with her boy toys and enjoy
breaking their balls again and again,/ loving none.
This circus I’m part of was built just for this.
I should have done it the other way.
[Source texts: “Heartsick,” Lynn Emanuel; “My Daguerrotype Boyfriend,” Alison Pelegrin; “The Donnellys,” Martin Dyar; “Property,” Robin Beth Schaer; “The Grain,” D. Nurske; “Here Comes the Hotstepper,” Adam Fitzgerald; “Communion,” Blas Falconer; “On a Day, in the World,” Brenda Hillman; “Misunderstandings,” Tony Hoagland; “Message to my Love,” Catullus, trans. from the Latin by Jeannine Diddle Uzzi and Jeffrey Thomson; “Practice for Being Empty,” Mary Jo Bang; “The Fatal Skin,” Peter Unwin]