lovers rock

tomorrow is a version of a dream I’m having – I’ll try not to break it
down , ship it out though we have got to work
like slaves just to eat a piece of bread let’s stay with the problem

I want you to understand yeah things in life like the locust buzzing
toward death on the branch , condemning regional speech

like barbara , who taught french , faith in the small and unspectacular
gesture – mr mustard’s “ do you want to start paying
taxes together – she thought that was something else
or mom and dad warring , TV broke , computer broke ,
coffee pots , windshields , buying Target selling Target
all matte and dread
and they love us that way

( even nell’s “ I don’t give a shit about faire du shopping

“ love is a disaster
I want you to understand things in life

like value , bro ( capacious , a little glimpse of righteousness ,

spirit ! before it’s too sentimental to name
to live a committed life and grow roses on a common grave

in the interpersonal process group , they told me “ move
from here *points at head* to here *left side of chest*
and I said bet , easy small , unspectacular

I had to learn how people make things happen ,

way out here , beyond sedation , guaranteed salvation
beyond the stacking of barbarous detail

and my head , split , twisted
from diving onto obvious rocks

all bent with love’s coarse adrenaline

then I got shot down by the sun of reason

then the future cracked
open

& now it’s cooler than cool

my love , now

it’s blacker than black

Benjamin Krusling is the author of Glaring (Wendy's Subway, 2020) and a forthcoming chapbook, It got so dark (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2022).