GIRL

My name changed once a year on my name day.
You never knew when it could come. But it would.
And I had to learn to forget

My name changed once a year. Monday my name
Was. Tuesday my name. Was Wednesday
My name on Thursday and on those days fry sadder sun.

But when you knew a name could never come it would

Forget to and I had to learn misbelief
To disbelieve my name changed once

Never let me know which rag in the bucket
Tended the perfect animal I’ve been neglecting on.

My feet hurt no man—our sad days’ day-ridden hours
I had to forget to learn—what color was

My name? What was too day was when’s
Day-iced feet. Name down somewhere.

22

I don’t not want to be infantilized. Some infants get fed cleaned and taken out for walks; I need all of those. When I moved into my me-sized apartment I didn’t know I would need rubber gloves; the texture of the water here is bad. I didn’t wash the pot last time I cooked and now the sink is full and the counter is full and I can’t chop an onion and I hate to get my hands wet. Every morning before work I make sure to pick up rubber gloves on the way home and throughout the day I’ve already done it, and when I get home there are no rubber gloves.

47

Work pretends to ask for the efficiency they demand, which seems inefficient to me. They ask for shorter sentences, no fragments. The shortest sentence they can think of. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Me? No.

16

They don’t notice they don’t like me. I used to think not enough practice was why. But it’s subconscious. They don’t know they can tell that naturally my face gulps for air like a fish. I don’t know if they know they don’t like me but they like the commercials. They’ve gone viral on the networks. They want more.

29

I’m a market come true! I’m five feet, I don’t know whose, and ten inches long. I’m shot up for the glossies. I’m injected into the networks. I’m offered so many snacks and fizzies I couldn’t possibly if I want to earn my place! And my head—they just don’t see snakes as wild as mine, I know? Well no I do not know their flat-assed tapeworm trade… and there, I’m spoiled dinner. I’m fallen out of flavor. Well I’m come back with a noon image. I’m zipped up the face. I’m laced into the snakemeat and guess what, I too need to poo. I’m keeping them all on ice.

31

I know the apartment needs food when it runs out of bags. Alison catches me peeking into the empty bag box. She swats my hand. I swear she doesn’t usually, my fault! Like a baby anything, Alison can’t talk and fears out loud. If she minous, I check the fish, water, and sand: Alison’s three needs. Least usually I remember there aren’t three, there are four, possibly more of those. I myself don’t have one, but I am one of Alison’s. Alison isn’t her name, anyway. I have no idea how she refers to herself inside.

18

I spend a lot of parties in the bathroom. I think I almost fit in there. Some make-up. Some selfy. Some pisser. Some panic. Even in my own home during an impromptu get together, which I am still recovering from and vice versa; having had expected one friend not many, which does not require constant interaction but rather a concrete shared experience to experience, a mis-synced talky. An odd sum of alone.

23

All I wanna do is dance, give me all your love, gimme all your love, all your love, gimme all your love, hey-i-eh-eh, hey-i, all I. see is. signs, so that’s all I do. All I wanna do is dance so all I do is dance. Elettrochoc, perché, ring my behhhhhhhl, ring my Book? I give zero fucks about history; it was written to kill us. I feel lohhhhhhhhhve. I feelof We’re dancing what happened. All we’ve ever done is dance all we’ve ever done.