1. yellow
as in yellow! my name is knife. just gonna squeeze on by ya: midwestern greeting between the 4th and 5th rib. do you mind if turn my head into a giant staircase, and you, the protagonist of our story, roll down and out where my mouth ought to be?
good god, i am falling in love with the way i let things lie
2. blue
oscillation / isolation
simple slept in weapon
pistachio, moustache, pastiche, succotash, ganache, panache
sung: these are some of my favorite things.
3. green
i was smart until i became pope, then everything changed. first your hair becomes grey. they tell you that. but they don’t tell you your insides go gray, too. i can peek the steel with a long hard stare down my throat—can see see it creeping up like aluminum moss.
i wanted to be a part of the city, but instead the city became part of me, and no, it doesn't go both ways. and no, i don't sing when i'm alone anymore, and yes, my head has gained 13 lbs of raw metal, and yes, i will live another day, but no, not w/ you
4. red
Burn something down and call it a candle. Burn everything down and call it a séance. Gesture toward r(e)u(n)i(o)n.
Look both ways before you look both ways.
5. orange
when you close your mouth, my heart is like a fisted sock.
6. white
keep in mind the closest exit may be behind you
do you feel you have taken
one step forward, then two more
steps in the same direction facing backward
does it taste like anything
to be so wrong about everything
or just your usual mouth
is it your usual mouth
because you feel like you are always
so wrong about everything
do you pretend to love
your mother
with that mouth
what about light
& seeing the fact of things
is so embarrassing
when something disappears
don’t you think
you know it a little better
what does my willingness
to hide from my life say about my attitude
toward those who choose to stay
do you think a miracle
is something
that just happens
do you think in the future
you will say
something, anything to me
how is the phrase ghost pipe
both a flower & an accurate description
of my loving surrender
anything that pleases you should
be miraculous when
everything else displeases
i think if i could give you anything
it would be one pleasure
or one amnesia
if i had control over the world
nobody would ever go bald
vote for me
if i ever go bald
i will invent a new person
to be angry at
i need an image
but when i imagine anyone
your face spills on it