is the truant in my sheets / barely sixteen / I am /

telling fibs to stay home with my thoughts /

with my feet tucked in the pockets of sleep /

head stuffed with cotton wool / call the man with loose teeth

to come chew on something soft / hit snooze /

dream of pink tongues with yellow stains /

wake to clumps of dandelion fluff drowned

in the open tabernacle of my mouth /

it is rude for a guest to leave without annihilating the leftovers /

alpha / omega / stab the swollen balloon of my hunger

with a fork / wrap its hot breath in foil /

when you are poor you know to use everything /

strip cartilage into keys / unearth the hatchet caked in bone /

if you empty the mess of history from my cells /

there is enough to wind twice around the solar system /

enough to make a dog collar /

enough to walk away and have it follow/

always/

trailing from the neck