The beautiful blue attendant I sneak closely at her face Her calm hems Everything put together No wonder we can fly How far up? Even the sky ends At certain velocities the film breaks The other side refulgent against black black The way is this way guided in blue The gnats and …
We arrived in crowds, and I said I have already seen this. The crowds made little homes at the tops of buildings that sagged and the crowds made ready for winter and hoped for the old water in the canals to harden the boats and the trash which I …
The tram conductors will strike tomorrow— Efren buttoned the top of his coat and adjusted his scarf. With old men it is always politics or the past, and usually they are the same. The too-loud discussions closed as the door closed in the bar behind him. He crossed to the other side of the canal. …
I always knew that I would burn. I knew it even at eleven, standing in the Jehovah Hall wearing a Pepto-Bismol pink crinoline dress, my fat-knobby knees rubbing that rough fabric, the itch of that crinoline dress and a forced smile. The force upon me like damp fur. I could smell it, the danger of it, God, …
Dear dome of impenetrable darkness— It is only fair I give you some glimpse of my own birth: that was the year the Andean volcanoes sent England magnificent weather: tides blasting against the shore, light dashed across the sky, the slant of rain coming down like a puppet’s strings. Mid-August, a comet smeared the inky …
My thighs touch too close for comfort. Hip bones buried in my sides, old handlebars or the bronze gates to a hungry woman. Pull, she says, come closer. I do not bleed, anymore I maneuver this daunting vessel and I am starved. Please, come closer. I want to disappear with the reptiles My large …
Dear University Office of Risk Management (IV) Thank you for sharing your reservations about my recent letters. I was not going to say anything, but I think you should know that these missives were penned by my undergraduate research assistant, N***. This circumstance should contextualize any irregularity in form or content. I do not wish …
Dear University Office of Risk Management (III) You will find with this letter three vials of my blood to help with the university’s new wellness initiative. My aversion to blood made me avoid the mobile-medical-unit that visited campus last week to collect samples from employees. With that acknowledged, I understand that the blood will be …
Dear University Office of Risk Management (II) I wanted you to know about an imminent threat to the campus community presented by changes to our dental plan. Specifically, I am concerned about the elimination of benefits for family members of university employees. More specifically, my wife’s teeth matter a great deal to me. The origin …
Dear University Office of Risk Management Please do not be concerned about the fire alarm that was pulled in the library last Thursday afternoon: I did this to test our evacuation procedures. I was concerned that there had not been a single drill this semester. In the event of a real emergency, everybody should have …