Remarks

i. I like the way you call me
and always hang up on the second ring
because you know I get the shakes and the shivers
and sometimes, but not always, my knees fall off
and I have to crouch down to find them.

ii. I keep thinking about you.
You
and your ten-thousand tans
and your lack-luster smile
gaping open with colloquialisms.
You and the way you say
"you're pretty and thin"
as if one more label will be the gunshot
and I'll finally escape that dream
in which I'm running, but my feet are melting
through the sidewalk and my arms are
casting impossible shadows.

iii. It reminds me of how inarticulate words are sometimes;
how they flit through me every second and yet
I tend not to write them down around you
because, every time, I wake up and
forget why I am.
How your words mean next-to-nothing to me
because you throw them around
like ping-pong balls, and
I prefer to sip them like sweet tea.

iv. You say things like "I love you" and
it reminds me of how I will never be anyone.
How I meet people and find out what it is they need
and then become that. Sad,
but if you touched my face,
I'd laugh instead of scream.

v. If you asked me the right questions,
I'd philosophize the stars and tell you old
Chinese proverbs with ridiculous morals like
'never let the ocean crest thrice while the eastern wind is
blowing' or 'double-dipping for rice in front of your grandmother
without chopsticks is a sin. Don't. Do. That.'


vi. If you told me I was ravishing just
two more times,
I'd set my books aside and
let
you
fuck
me.