Lucía M. Polis The Poetry of

This poem appears in We Were Hateful People.

fall is arrived

     you tell me you're never heard
our house is strewn
with postindustrial artefacts
gold
and animal fur

tonight  you wore the watch
with the plain black band
from your last longterm man
and the thin ring he'd given you
emblazoned with  BAD BITCH

behind you
blue koi jump against the stream
bounce off the water
joyfully


as far as you're concerned
i don't exist
in this discrete moment


on bad days
you rend unto me
an unanswerable catechism

    who taught you how to sweep
    who taught you how to drive
    who taught you how to make the bed
          to live
    to lie

on good days
when my mind isn't
polluted with fear

    we drink coffee
    we drive nowhere
    we buy produce
    we watch something  and get high
    (a ritual with effective victuals


when we lay us down to sleep
we note the marks of our past occupations
that lower our resale value
that cover our bodies
these dings and scratches  you say

add only more character
                                    then
              the world ends
            when something
happens