“I am a passenger.
I stay under glass. . . .
Over the city’s ripped-back sky.”
—Iggy Pop, “The Passenger”
I laugh aloud to myself
because I can. Diamonds
are funnier than squares,
triangles more gruesome
than the geometry
of our wrecked love.
I’ve gotten close, closer,
too close to the mouth
of a singer as her earring
explodes on stage. Glittery
shrapnel decorates the palm
of my hand. No blood this time.
I see a man
swim with his children,
tossing them in the air,
so they can make a splash
in the world.
I think of my father
and know he is
there underwater
using his gills
to guide me
through an angry ocean
to the nearest sandbar.
I get further
and farther
away. I spend less
time and travel
fewer blocks alone
in the wee hours
hoping to crash
into your imaginary black
jeep with my invisible red
car. I never know the year
or make, don’t care
who chauffeurs you
through the backroads now.
The Stouffer Inn in Public Square
has seen better days.
Goes by a different name.
All the aliases offered
at check-in crumble into
ruin porn, or do they just
ruin porn. Or ruin a poem.
Or have nothing
to contribute
except the image
of Mr. Barney Rubble
ordering room service
in an urban hotel suite.
I write more legibly—
I’m more legible—
in the dark.
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