Text
I’m gay and I play tennis. I think
the sculpture Laocoön and His Sons
is kind of hot. In this poem the poet
uses phallic imagery in the form
of a crocodile. When I was young
I would sneak into my older brothers’ room
and take things. One of my brothers died
and I still think about him. He won a prize
for a haiku he wrote in high school
but I only remember two lines. I have
a photograph of him and his fiancée
with parrots on their heads. I stole
a pair of his shoes to wear to his funeral.
My husband gave me a painting for Christmas
but it wasn’t what I was expecting and
I didn’t like it at first but now I do
(metaphor). If things had gone just a little
differently I could easily be alone. I binge-watch
The Office with my son. He likes to eat
a big snack right before bed, just like I did/
do. I have a tattoo and my students
always want to know what it means; I don’t
know what it means. I had a moment
of transcendence once, but it didn’t
last. The Burmese Python doesn’t belong
in Florida (metaphor?). My father was an actor
and a complete mystery to me. Men,
in general, are a complete mystery to me.
I write poetry, but I’m still going to die.