Not an Anthem
any use of we feels self-
serving or assaultive
to you / in other words
you would like his heart
inside of you / though
his disinterest / instead
adopt what he said / each
work has its own imperatives
/ or did he say each word… /
thus another encyclopedic
entry / yesterday’s entry
/not a body bag / an oversized
duffle bag / not EMT’s /
utility workers / further proof
we are unreliable narrators
Taken
on Youtube a tattoed
-him with split tongue
/ pointed ears / talks
about sub-dermal
implants at the base
of his shaft / says that
he prefers doggie style
‘cause he can go deeper
/ remember your 20s? /
the San Fran afr-AIDS
years? / now in the cock-
tail years men your age
disappear once you get
close to them / and now
on the other coast in
the safety of this WiFi
café a he-writer dis-
regards desire / yours /
so your cross-country
homo-eyes shift out-
doors to a strobe / not
a disco / a clean street /
the darkness / the trees /
darkness / the tree-lined
street / can’t discern the
bicyclist / can’t discern
if you are too pre-
occupied with appearing
License Plate Number
self-assured in denim cutoffs
/ white tee / Doc Martens /
approaching the Castro / from
behind you a car slows / pulls
into a shallow drive / someone
says something / you turn / face
4 teens in red jackets / out the
open window the driver laugh
-asks do you like it up the ass? /
you ignore him / must continue
walking / from behind hear
the swerving / the car gunning
at you / between a taproom and
a blue house an alley / you up
a chain-link fence / the 4-door
backs up / with all speed the smell
of burnt tires / out of nowhere
a mannish bartender appears / asks
if you’re okay / hands you a book
of matches / on the inside flap
the handwriting / a sequence of
numbers and letters / you return to
the embroidery / the backside of red
lean a leggy ladderagainst the building
touching
yours / watching them
from above / from
an open window / you
must decide / close
or keep open before
you leave / now
outside the sky / half
divided by light
and dark clouds / the
other half clear
/ aware of risk
you pause / must
watch / must again
shift the focus to
the moving / the still