ZOW

I’ll believe it when I see it Not just a turn of phrase but an afterimage
 My patrilineage only real on paper Genes disappear like vapor Ancestor crawling out the nape of my neck
 Glowing eyes hungry panting in the dark beyond the deck Don’t ask me to stand for the flag nor your genocidaire elect
 Split atoms spit phantoms even little boy had a barrel chest Rodent bones in an owl’s nest Trojan horse called culture shock
 Cinderblocks at my behest Testing anesthetic 
 Disheveled medic putting the IV in rocks Sutures lancets no gauze just the kid’s sock
 Give it a rest you’re all talk You’re all talk
 Piano prepared with C4 and wiretaps
 Greed embodied Venus flytrap Pouring bleach uncaring like a gish gallop Fire lapping at courthouse steps Enveloped and mired in cordyceps Might fuck off and head west
 Might not
 Maybe not cynical just perceptive 
Maybe collect weapons and be a pest
 Say bye stay happy with what’s left of your flesh
 Femoral artery gushing ichor and centipedes
 I drink it like liquor trying on new identities Within complexities lie hearts that don’t stop st-st-stammering Marked for deletion “no tampering” written in parentheses