Unkind Years
              Jeanann Verlee



Did he (drink to a stupor by noon / wither to bone / stash a case under the bed / drink it secret and warm /
fling you against a wall / toss your goodbye pills / keep you from the knives / fuck you despite your
unfortunate madness / play your song in the strip club / dance without you / silence you with silence /
move to the couch / the floor / blame your wilding / blame your quick sickening / take the last of you on
the living room hardwood / sharpen the blade before the cut / curse you) kiss you first?









Song for the Girl with Too Many Minds



soft too soft / you / laughing now / hands mottled / red
adrenaline / muscle burn / aftershock / soft girl / you
the butcher / in every story / you hide / on stage on the
street in print in the bottle / hide / drop eyes / flash tooth
hesitate / anger comes late / too late / there you are / you
standing over the body / the body / bloating and blue
the body / not the man / who was never the body / but
the monster / too monster / the dagger / slick and brown
from the body’s leak / you girl / soft / ground meat / charred
you char / quiet polite girl / too girl / girl grows teeth
soft girl grows knuckles / bullets / soft girl rage / soft girl
laugh / soft girl kill and kill / soft girl           killing machine