"flip a lucky"
  
  they say these things aren't healthy
  i still flip one for luck
  maybe my cancer
  will be an enhancer
  and won't fill my lungs with muck
  
  my father's teeth are black
  and his gums bleed real red
  but frankly man
  i don't give a damn
  if my brain falls outta my head
  
  they say these things aren't healthy
  but damn if i don't look cool
  tap my pack
  on a cadillac
  that's a sign i'm breakin the rules
  
  all the world's a stage
  so you better play your part
  don't judge mine
  i'm made by design
  to just keep killin my heart
  

  "on the ground"
  
  we keep our eyes down
  as we watch our feet scramble
  we keep our eyes down
  as we pick through the bramble
  
  filled with thorns and sticks
  and rocks and ticks
  and bones andn eyes
  of deer that died
  and all the mud that could ever fill our shoes
  
  we keep our eyes down
  as we jump over rocks
  we keep our eyes down
  as we take off our socks
  
  we take off our shirts and pants
  and we do a little dance
  as the moon lights up
  the shadows of
  our first sexual
  encounters
  
  we keep our eyes down
  as we dance like loons
  we keep our eyes down
  as we sing our tunes
  
  in a hole we lie
  our fates entwined
  as the nukes flash
  on the horizon
  

  "an ode to backflips"
  
  shoot me in the face
  a bajillion times
  with the biggest gun
  you can find
  
  i swear to god
  you aren't gonna stop me
  from doing a backflip.
  

  "fishes"
  
  bream don't
  dream of
  automating things
  
  and fish
  don't wish
  for a
  radar dish
  to fix
  when they
  get bored
  

  "orange waters"
  
  i watched
  as alexandria
  burned.
  
  a bucket of water
  laid at my feet,
  but i felt
  no desire
  to pick it up
  
  i listened to
  cries echo
  across the
  burning, orange port
  and wondered
  what key the were
  singing in.
  

  "a poem for a man i've never met"
  
  the background radiation
  coursing through his lips
  into mine
  sends coppery blood flowing
  from my gums.
  
  the cosmic hum
  of his thighs thrum
  in my hands,
  tuned to a frequency
  only the two of us
  can hear.
  
  now the broadcast 
  rings out with dead air,
  our ears
  throbbing
  with fuzz.
  

  "a drive to oklahoma"
  
  one night,
  i arose from my bed
  and drove to a small town
  an hour away,
  10 minutes from the oklahoma-arkansas border
  
  i drove until the roads were no longer roads.
  the only lights around me
  were the two at the front of my car.
  
  everything was quiet.
  i couldnt hear the hum of my engine.
  
  far enough into the forest,
  i turned my headlights off.
  my stereo too.
  
  i let go of my steering wheel
  hoping i'd wrap around a tree,
  or maybe sail off into a lake,
  only to be found by a
  magnet fishing youtube channel
  5 years later.
  
  i failed.
  i parked in a gravel lot
  and cried.
  

  "one of 3 wishes"
  
  beat me
  with a really big pole
  

  "an assurance"
  
  my head burns
  from all the thoughts you put in it
  and my skni burns
  from your breath hot against my neck.
  i'm afraid if I ever peel my hands from my eyes
  i really will go blind this time.
  

  "dead as hell"
  
  dead things walk
  in place of me
  dead things talk
  in place of me
  
  these dead things pretend
  it's okay, but
  the cold scalpel 
  sliding across my Achilles
  says otherwise.
  

  "sick to a stomach"
  
  i have wanted to throw up for hours now
  i hear a hammer click in my head
  i cannot understand faces anymore
  i am afraid of them
  i am afraid they do not miss me
  i am afraid they are not afraid
  i am afraid of my body
  i do not understand its signals anymore
  i do not want to eat anymore
  i do not want to sleep anymore
  i still want to throw up
  

  "blunts covered in wax"
  
  i wanna tell you what i want
  so we can turn on the lights
  but the bill ain't paid
  and the bed ain't made
  i'll just keep rollin the dice
  
  but i think my dice are loaded
  i just can't lose it all
  so i'll fold my hand
  and listen to the band
  as we make our way through the mall
  
  i write and i write sweet words
  praying you'll do the same
  as racing horses
  run their courses
  the weak collapse from pain
  
  so i lie here in a snow
  made of burnt up cards and ash
  the total's 21
  the dealer's won
  and we're heading for a crash
  

  "old dog eyebrows"
  
  i'd like to be an old dog
  with an even older bark.
  my whiskers gray,
  i'll sleep through the day
  as worms dig on through my heart.
  
  i'd like to hear "good girl"
  with a pat on my head and a treat.
  i've lived my life 
  without any strife
  and a coat that keeps in the heat.
  
  i'd like to feel a firm hand
  stroking along my spine.
  with an old dog's sigh
  and my old gray eyes
  i'll smile knowing that you were mine.
  
  i'd like to think you'll cry
  when it comes time to put me down.
  an old wind blows
  as the big gates close
  on a black-laced funeral gown.
  

  "drunk driving"
  
  pearls,
  hot on my neck,
  spill down my chest
  in the collision.
  
  we lie next to each other
  silently on the asphalt.
  his chest heaves,
  his car much more 
  wrecked than mine.
  
  we eventually
  exchange details
  and go our
  separate ways.
  

  "building a home"
  
  the hammer
  plinks
  down on a nail
  
  sweat drips
  from my forehead.
  i dont want to be here.
  
  the hammer
  plinks
  down on a nail.
  
  his palms
  singe the hairs
  of my thighs.
  
  the hammer
  plinks
  down on a nail.
  
  he loves me.
  i cannot
  love him.
  
  the hammer
  plinks
  down on a nail.
  

  "bullets"
  
  i bite down
  hard enough for you.
  a bright frown,
  knowing stuff is through.
  
  but you'll shoot me dead.
  i'll make sure of that.
  a skull must be shed,
  to cure us of our fat.