stay
1
your beard is expendable
pop the sun and let the pus drip out
hot enough by day to cause swelling
it bounces through the crowds
bounces on the bridge
bounces in the room
both afraid
it might bounce onto the bed
and open up our legs
but it hasn’t opened anything yet
it just stands there
close to you
i’m giving you a trim
and the beads of sweat on your stubble
so neatly strung
so sparkling
they bounce into the sky
one by one
2
i ask
coldly
and repeatedly
that you jump from the plane
like a rubber ball
into the temperature
of day
jump now
just relax
don’t lie
spread your limbs
like you’re making love
you on top
the earth underneath
coldly
i thought you could jump down
3
in actuality
we are already joined –
two pointless people
you boiled beef slices and they tasted good
my fried eggs and tomato
terrible
a balance
unrealistic
you added salt
i took away the sugar
i divided the rice and
you multiplied by flour
meaningless signifiers
4
my hope
that things will not be so unbearable
it will be possible to keep the light on
it will be possible to remain clothed
i will un-know
how you touched your hand
to the bodies of other women
and the swelling waters
of the Lhasa
that in your eyes
the badlands of the Aksu
were moistened
by girl
and you will not know the dead heart in
the deepest part of me –
just the light clothes
floating in your arms
5
you said you were dreaming
dreamed that you were cruising for girls
in Vietnam –
don’t know if it was Hanoi
or Saigon
maybe De Lat
maybe somewhere
you can’t find on a map
now star-fringed lands
make me candid –
i have never been to
Vietnam
nor do i intend
to forgive this dream
6
you rent a boat
prepare to drift from one city
to a further city
this boat of yours
its hull adheres to the water
force them apart and find
a sucking wound
if a wave doesn’t capsize you
turbulence will
a rope
twisted round the boat’s side
destines us to pull from the bed
two drenched human lives
7
i find myself funny
dirty joke with chaser
knocks me upside down in
seconds
and i feel bad actually
centre of gravity off
like an empty bottle
wavering out of daylight
down railroad tracks
into castoff consciousness
i have
this mouldering moon
and will soon lose sight
of these pleadings
to stay
