Originally published in Right Hand Pointing, issue 97. Also appears in Treason Cantos: Poems 2014-2017 as part 7 of the long poem “Treason Cantos (Bits of Bits of Years)”.
10 stops. Freeverse is colonial. When you do it wrong, you go hungry. Why is that the policy? Good mental health is relative to the culture and civilization: there’s an evolutionary advantage in being capable of remaining awake. This table has two legs, though you could say it has an infinite number of legs, one next to the other next to the other, so closely packed you’ll need an axe to break them apart. When I first met you, you were orange; now you are more transparent. Where did that helmet come from? You seem agitated; do you need a pill?