I go to bed with a headache but

1. Wake up from a dream, pink tangerine

In her sleep, my roommate screams. For a moment, 

it sounds like she’s drowning until she lays her head 

down like nothing happened. All anyone wants nowadays is  

2. Find the legs pressed together naturally

toothpaste, floss picks, the fictitious west-

manufactured safety sold at the price of complacency. 

It’s much more effective, after all, than to

3. Encourage the gentle sway, water and glycerin

shoot radicals the way they used to. O creators 

of unintentional martyrs, messiahs! Revel in

capitalism of all colors! Country of endless freedom, 

4. Heavy awake sleep, fog of feeling

artificial flavors. Progress paradigm of democracy 

unearthed alongside black-gold oil. New-wave Zionism,

a desert in bloom, who will be the next empire to fall? 

 

5. Feel yourself lift away, bathtub bubble burst

When I was a kid, I had this tic: 

I couldn’t stop laughing until the final sound of the laugh felt 

right. I’d repeat the motion, become breathless trying.