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Syntax Issue 10
Denver Syntax
{love song}
  jason fraley


Say gasmask confessional.

Say dentist’s chair, drills, fragrance of anesthetic.

Say scripture calls for a stockpile of wives in times like this.

[when nerves are a commodity]
[when you can tear down the neighbor’s houses to build beds]
[when they’re willing to weave their hair into hammocks / to be eaten]

Say they’re all named Amy and barren.

Say they’ve made her a myth.

Say a window.

Say a perfectly symmetric garden.

Say green peppers look like hand grenades, pins and all.

Say you’ve dreamed of a prosthetic affair.

Say you’ve dreamed of more you.

Say oblige.

Say you could learn to love plastic as your own flesh.