From (C)OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS, Book the Fifth


Perseus uses the Gorgon's head

I emerged from the fog 
 to find that I’d droppered belladonna
into my right eye 

& all I had to show for it
was this viral clip of me collapsing
on the palace stairs.

That’s when I took to the ether,
during this sad state
of affairs, & either direction

was fine as long as it meant
their thoroughbreds wouldn’t flare their nostrils
at you when faced w/ the closure

of Smoker’s Shangri-La due to 
health code violations & a failed
exorcism.  

Use your head for something 
other than an aegis, but please
do it in the privacy of your own

breakout group or at least
pixelate to protect the 
witnesses who want to begin 

new lives in South Dakota
where the sun bleaches your skin
right to the bone.  No virus

survives, but surprise,
the virus was people like me
all along. 

Phineas is turned to stone 

Don’t make fun of my flat 
affect; it makes it far easier 
to lie to your face with a visage
of stone because what can you do 
when you’re finally busted
for building that roller coaster
in the backyard while
your parents were out of town?
Sometimes submission is the only way
to survive when summer’s almost
gone.  Simultaneously, the pool 
fills with my wayward tears
& the AC rumbles like 
the angry god astride 
the dune buggy that killed 
Frank O’Hara.  Godspeed you
emperor penguin, adelie penguin,
little rockhopper 
with your smooth stone potential 
mates kick back into the churning 
glacial surf.

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from (C)OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS, Book the Fifth

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