Back In The Game Plan

The Surly Girl Returns to the Third World of Europe


"ticket number seventy-nine, booth three please"
                            booth three please
                            booth three please

excoriate the petaled film from an incandescent day
advise a lamb to walk right in
to a brutal, syncopated flay

"Anne Sexton, booth eight please"
                  booth eight please
                  booth eight please

cultivated blankness guides
gambles by the tips
shambles by the snips
comfort by the grips

I've given this culture the best of my ire
A habitual residence I have yet to acquire

"ticket number one hundred thousand and twelve, booth two please"
                                                 booth two please
                                                        booth two please

"Miss Sexton, please, booth eight!"

some of the forms are pink
some of the forms are blue
some of the fiddles are bloody string orchestras
none of my clothing is new
atone attune attenuate
hold a stranger's land

the crusty is sleeping in front of the taxpayer's grate
warm tidal swells in his brain don't come cheap

Can Katy Kollwitz please borrow a pen?