I'm sitting here
wearing gautier's eau de toilette
like it was made to replace
a naturalistic intention

sucking down grapefruit bits
floating in water
areas of tart, tangy and sweet
like spots where people pissed in the swimming pool
I just got out of
shook like a dog
as I made a barefoot dash
from poolside to homeside
and peeled the wet nylon off my skin
dropped it into the sink
and tumbled into the shower

steam enveloped me
like a train
the one I'm going to have to take to manhattan soon
the one I'm not going to take ever again
the one I'm going to grow accustomed to
And I got out and dried myself off
as if I were my own mother
not so negligent as she
making sure to get each crack and crevice clean
the way my mother
bothers over the house
snooping around each corner
robbing it bare

Bare assed, so I slipped on this shirt Gilly's dad wore
I threw a banana peel over my shoulder
same color of this damned shirt
itchy lacy orange shirt

poetry has fallen out of my
consciousness in
5
4
3
2

(end transmission)