K. Lorraine Graham

from The Rest Is Censored








A 70s horror movie without the movie                  Am all about
the amulet  the ocean bacteria  the old moorings off the state
beach   Deer sign   the real possibility of hitting them and
gulls  and pelicans  cormorants and ducks                  possums

A possible possum rescue center!            How the young survive
even if a car crushes their mother’s head         if the bus does

                                                           they might












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The bus driver stops
the bus somewhere
that isn’t a stop                     gets out and gives
a sandwich               to the woman managing
the coffee cart
                             “I love you”    she says
      This never happens again












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Not because of tacos de birria                      nauseous
again    Send a box of old dresses           In the mood to miss
you most at sunrise   but I only feel cold
                   “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing”
and something about the limited life span         of problems
The glory of distance   too   Today I want everyone            naked












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Black Friday shopping death           Any facetime
is better than                                        happy happy
         What to say
                                   land           of            off
The potential to not die today












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Suitcases under the seat appear to contain     a bag of potatoes
and a small fire extinguisher               And a woman
with a big plush chicken stuffed animal chicken gets on
and when she gets off she nearly forgets     the chicken
but doesn’t      Says “Oh, mi pollo!”     And next to
a woman “from Texas” where  she says  “people are clean
and polite” and “Mexicans are clean  and polite” and “You look
like you are from Texas” No but say        “Yes I am from Dallas”












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Nothing   pressing
on any part                against
                   any part
Threw up  at the holidays
                            at real estate
                 at marriage at labor
Nothing
pressing on any part












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Interlude for arm and foot     for rain                           A story
might code as                                      an offering        I mean
                   love constructed for love

    Like a big rectangular building    full of
                                                                   internal orifices
or the parking lot surrounding it                     We’re looking
for our car            We’re at IKEA
                                                                    or IHOP












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Unmoved by the nearly destroyed
                 golf tent    Someone’s saying
how bad it is
                             Thinking of a man
in a coat  maybe the coat of a football team
fan       and jeans with    months of unwashed
wear     And the woman with the plush
chicken    who almost                   forgets it again
but she doesn’t              She doesn’t forget the chicken!
Rehearse             “Señora usted olvidó su pollo”
    just in case for the next time












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How keeping an object long enough makes it real