VERNAL

ear with bookbinding needle in the lobe—
bleeding teens with nondairy creamer—
actions unfeel me on the infinite spreadsheet,
bless stink taxonomies of sleepless mammalia,
temu-bought prophet begging donations
for LLM attempt at subway slam poet
(unflinching endrhymes essentially obama)
+ the very first book a 25 year old reads

creatine milkshake, grasshoppers for texture;
brain for content, content 4 life
stainedglass fascisti stream once and blink twice
supermax sheets sweat seethrough Wife the
big cygnet Narcissus playacting contingents
dreams:
two-end encryption, hot whisper, your ear
all fun / wet breath, the end always near

Don’t go to El Salvador
Do they even have daffodils?

Dayglow orange de-
reappropriates
your DNC aunt, and

Really:
It’s springtime, onslaught is spreading
Lambs stand on each other’s backs
while the mothers chew
I renounce everything I have ever done

—

from Issue 7 of Grotto

—

J. Arthur Boyle is pleasant, co-editor of The Amenia Free Review, and an adjunct at CUNY. Some work is in or coming from Action, Spectacle, The Chicago Review, COMA, the Cleveland Review of Books, Fence, Verso, and other lovely places. Please see jarthurboyle.com.