Nobody needs it,
The loss of words, the alphabet
Of rock and sky, the dictionary
Spelling out the weight of pelican
Feathers and childbirth. Nobody
Needs the dream of images
Making no sense, the path
Of broken teeth and textbooks,
Purple magic marker on skin,
Falling off the bed. This world,
These nightmares stop the years,
Multiply the pillow words,
Subtracting torn letters,
Adding a swimming pool
Of passive verbs, meat cleavers
And granola, frogs barking
In the consonant dark.
–Shaun Perkins
