hal niedzviecki
korea
   They tell you: make a decision.
    A group of slate-faced men do you
    from behind, ties grazing the grooves
    of your spine.

sean law

consumption
   Standing naked in the middle of the
    room, she cried that she’d been raped.
    Having dinner with a woman she worked
    with and the bitch convinced her to eat
    pizza.



amy muldoon

yesterday i burned things
   I said this to my daughter: “If you’re
    bored, why don’t you go burn things?
    That’s fun. Here, honey, you can use
    my lighter.”

saint cecilia's day
    So here it is, tapping against your perfect
    forehead. Swim in it, stoned on a dark August
    night. Words made flesh held against your
    tongue taken into your body.



jonathan bitz

schroedinger's cat
    Ms. Dunhill lived up above me, on the
     third floor. At night, I stared at the bottom
     of her bed. Sometimes it creaked. Like she
     was old.



jamey gallagher

butch
   I just stand there. Maybe the smell is not
    death, I realize.