By Amy Simone Piller
I will let dust procreate
in the name of meaning,
eat everything in sight,
fuel my torment,
believe in doesn’t-matter.
Forget paperwork:
ungraded papers,
stacked, sing
independence.
I strangle anxiety.
The blank page
will not phase me.
By Amy Simone Piller
Today I will not clean the apartment
before getting started
I will let dust procreate
in the name of meaning
Today I will eat everything in sight
before eyeing the calories
fuel my ticker-typing torment
believe in not matter
Today I will forget the paperwork
before noticing the due dates
my desk ungraded papers stacked
will sing their independence
Today I will strangle anxiety
before glancing the blank [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
The quiet intimacies
how people do
not touch
The angles of middle age
couples
Child asleep at the table
folded over two chairs
dressed up in tablecloth
trombone in ear
She rarely sees his hand in hers
the secret things
not meant to be
seen.
By Amy Simone Piller
You and I are in counseling
rather we dream in dream
about being
in counseling.
You refuse eye contact
I stare.
A show plays, a bicyclist jumps
building tops
on his bike, uplifted by balloons.
I lineup to attempt
this stunt
reminding me of Christmas
a tree decoration my mom still has:
a tandem bike
they rode their honeymoon.
By Amy Simone Piller
I told you once
you would blue
before you heard me
saying you
are beautiful.
I’ll say your name
again and again
as soft as it takes
to tickle your neck
making my breath
echo these walls
long after gone
constant
where’re your ears fall
almost by muff
aloneliness overcome
by confidence
instilled
eyes unaverted
legs spread me wide
asleep
you still riding
head above
feeling
what you only reflect
deep, deep love
drift to sleep
thinking
shit
how lucky
that guy was.
Morning you [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
I barely know you
face so swollen
years passed too.
It shouldn’t be such a struggle
to tune out what does not matter—
music from another room,
someone else’s troubles,
getting whole milk out of public schools,
breathing, diaphragm and trachea,
(plunging into anything)
I cannot fathom
that you are a man
or alone.
But we see with stethoscopes
misunderstanding created by ropes
wondering what’s beneath
worried over approval stamps (not [...]