Practical Hysterias

you can try. telling the stories in dull crayons. pretending there is paper. that something will last.

the rudiments of touch. confessed in a shiver of contrition. the coax of surrender lost in the thump beneath her ribs.

you can sleep. zombie in its mayhem. oblivious. saturated with death. digging at the creases in crumbling walls. until all your fingernails have fallen off. yet your prison still intact.

it's a bad day to be a monkey she whispered. evolution is coming for you. you're caught on the tentacles of a fairy tale. trying to drown yourself in a puddle of choices. all of them much too shallow.

you're alone in a panic of skin. it's all too small. it's all too big.

it's a sad day to be an addict. she confessed. all these pretty dresses to try on. but none of them fit.