XO

There you are, skinny as the day’s first hour.

And here I am, stalking you like the breeze

hunting picnickers in the summer grass.

What I’m trying to say is, it’s clear

this isn’t working. You think of us as xo.

I think of us as a three-act drama

starring a small child and a jar of aspirin.


Under the bright stage lights, it’s like

you’re not even here. And then I’m ushered

to my seat. Twinkle in the pilot’s eye,

twinkle on the wing. Think of it as the new style

of living: we come and go in the reflection

of a heart monitor’s flatline. How swell.

You should really put some ice on that.