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I’m not well put together, and everyone can tell. Shame to utter a dirty word, to think a mean thought, to bleed onto the plastic school seat. Shame when a zipper breaks. Shame to make a mistake. ” Ancient queen with her perfect pear. Shame is imposed by those who are supposed to love us —such as ourselves. My mole, meet your mole: shake, sniffle, sniffle. Hello. 21 Catch When Jim built model rocket ships, his tongue massaged his inner cheek as if to turn a crank. We thought this trait was his among our kin until we watched his daughter learn to paint, one little cheek out-popped, as sheep with wings took flight.

He is sunk to his senses under the weight of the father. The son’s spine strains into the soft pulp of the buttocks under the bulk of the father. I lie down to sleep under the roof of my father, 50 knees brought close to my chest. I lie down to sleep before the new day’s questions from my father. What will you do? How much do you need? When will you go? 51 The Roasted-Corn Man of Golden Hill A reason? Nobody is asking here, alongside Mexico, trailing sand across thresholds, under thin leaves of the pepper trees.

I lost my glove on the mansion tour, or did I leave it there? A door withdrew within a wall. What was a pair was then one fewer. Golden blooms on velvet paper yellowed along the hall. I dropped my glove on that mansion tour. If it’s found and cached in a parlor drawer, who dares to pay a call to claim the match that is one fewer? In paper bags, white candles flicker around the grand old mall. I lost a glove on the mansion tour. Hand in hand, we left, one fewer. 43 Duet Under Glass Long after the prior moment, I soak in a salmon-pink bath while ice-block glass, this room’s luxury, polarizes the summer.