new emergencies
and where it begins it begins mid-fall against the fall
from some misforgotten state of grace a place played
edenic as narrative’s birth the inciting incident to rise
of action(able) response and what does one do but rush
to the store to get the coffee to get the speed to just get
across the street in rush to miss the rush of a car’s
sweep past the curb the hurdle forward to some money
money for some face for some space for some state of
existence in some future tense a climatic moment’s
resolve some relief sweet pleasure the problem with
pleasure it ends like any material the average american
buys seventy pieces of clothing a year seventeen million
tons of waste total clothes made by hands by machines
to cover the animal beneath to blend in to not be
broken against rule of law to color in lines on a map
borders touching borders between states a field of
hazegreen between sheets the sweat of what stakes all
the aperture wants is a figure to capture what is the
impulse to capture the self this idle engine this stalled
time the wasted paper on all these lines what laws have
you broken and not been caught what catches your
attention what sustains what sustains what version of
what narrative builds with each step to what direction
and please who loafs who lazes whose ease
new emergencies
wake to no change :: light stuck to window :: plans drawn
submerged in bath water :: surrender to the fact of now ::
surrender to a distance wind slaps :: I to street as if matter ::
in the checkout line even :: in dreams we down pain :: where
fear might unanswer :: a gun like a call :: children make
language of safety :: photographs on a wall :: between face lit
+ screen rolling :: between cheek + chest :: the day brought
what us :: wake :: no change :: askew residue :: day strips back
to bone :: what time has done to us :: what we have done to ::
who am I to claim we :: watch the towers collapse in reverse ::
the us needs a patriot needs an enemy :: to call own :: call
home :: these same outward we united :: homeland security
since fourteen ninety-two :: so many bodies on the street ::
who claims we these united :: slow roil
new emergencies
who told you that was enough ::
what’s enough is done :: the excess burns: night turns
promiscuous :: air thick with ourselves : sick of our selves :: we
gather round the firesound :: we ivy cling we’ll :: choke this place
out :: smoke this place out :: tear the floral from our shirts :: slap
wine on these soles :: clap this night open :: delicious
little revolts ::
enough about the landscape ::
just take it :: call it our invention :: just need a little cash for :: a
slice of here :: we plastic cling we’ll :: choke these selves out ::
smoke these cells out :: we skin awake we keep awake :: enough
are we :: working enough we could :: of course clink an afternoon
:: clink into it :: pleasant isn’t it so
pleasant ::
to clink an afternoon ::
we could of course :: be working enough :: awake enough we
keep awake :: choke these cells out :: smoke these selves out ::
we plastic cling a little :: cash for a slice of :: here :: call it our
invention :: the landscape just take it ::
delicious ::
little revolts :: clap this
night open :: slap wine to sole :: tear floral out those shirts :: we’ll
smoke this place out :: choke this place out :: we ivy cling ::
round the firesound :: sick of our cells :: air thick with our cells
:: night turns promiscuous :: burn the excess :: who told you that
was enough :: what’s enough is done
Paige Webb is a queer poet, thinker, person, and PhD candidate at the University of Cincinnati. Their poems can be found in Blackbird, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, DIAGRAM, Indiana Review, The Kenyon Review’s “Nature’s Nature” folio, poets.org, Poetry Northwest, Vinyl Poetry and Prose, West Branch, and in their chapbook Tussle (dancing girl press).