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July 12, 2017 / barton smock

high-dive. dusk.

as if any father
could heal
a cigarette
or remove
for a grey-eyed
newborn
the stitches
from a dream

July 11, 2017 / barton smock

jesus

an unhurried weirdo whose character development was orphaned by ghosts

July 11, 2017 / barton smock

mother praying for two

tooth fairy gone to salt

shell of a bee in an empty lamb

July 10, 2017 / barton smock

/ yyyy

doll burns its tongue on a teacup breast

at your abuser’s
costume party

July 10, 2017 / barton smock

later meaning

my eyes meet in a tunnel beneath the museum of things that belong. sister moons the moon. mother she buries the ironing board of a crucified dentist. childhood starts at the top. the painter of stomachs eats from a footprint. egghead shreds a pillow in the madhouse of snake.

July 8, 2017 / barton smock

eremite

the frog in the hood of my coat
has I’m sure
a later meaning.

my brother is on his back in a field he calls helicopter.

I know my father’s mouth
by its embrace
of doom’s
unconnected
dot. there are sounds

I can’t make. like that of a boy

squealing
as he rubs
a toy tank
under a blanket
for a god
whose mother
a face

could love.

July 7, 2017 / barton smock

highs

eardrum the airbag stomach of a lonely doll

brain
a blue
parachute

July 6, 2017 / barton smock

handheld

somewhere between satellites and baptisms

grief
the daydreaming
thumb

July 6, 2017 / barton smock

days of bread

the image
crucified
for its lack
of focus.

the loud music
over which
you hear
make
your blood.

the weakest
electric chair
this side
of moth.

father’s grip on a rolled-up magazine.

crow laundry.

an out-of-shape
coat hanger. & (and)

the news
that my nakedness
has died.

July 5, 2017 / barton smock

possessions

i.

chew toy
abandoned
at the throne
of old man
scissorlegs

ii.

a claw
from the lottery
of hands