a surge of desperation

I am a total person today with a single life , flying
so naked over conclusions . my life ,
it’s just one and I’m clamped to it , with sweat ,
drinking clarified milk and forthave red .
but I don’t really drink . or know anything . although
I know there are crazy people
and people too crazy to live , lightning struck ,
basically disastrous , but all wounds
are renounceable . and I know I speak hard ,
mostly in quotations cuz why , too much
pain in my voice ? in ” my voice . so
look , there I was , being followed
by a man all the way home
shirtless , with a drill , and he’s yelling
about acetone acetone acetone , but his life
seems almost over

—

Originally published in Common Place: Second Summer

—

Benjamin Krusling is a writer and artist. He is the author of the collection Glaring, and chapbooks, most recently sidesplitters. Fear of God Essentials is forthcoming from Nightboat in 2027.