the sub par sub sand wich


1.

the shapes we take

for badminton

    the best damn physical
                   
activity

through which

we know how to live



        without ever once opening
                                             the mouth

to let the vibratory
        event forth


        (here come a wave

(here come the physical effect


to know an attack dog feel

                like

                like

too good a time


           at least they’re listening

to the vibratory effect

           
to the plates spinning

              on the pole

tops


        at least they’re glistening
     
       punch bowls full of punch
         hands full of punch
           
 face full of punch


            wrestling in the lamp light

   
    confounded back into the punch bowl

                    the ride getting out of here

               so this is it           ;       so this is it   


the train schedule         my schedule
    is off ten minutes          was never written down


        
       informative as a means of derivation


                      to dally on a study guide
                on how to dally awhile

while the average moves toward the door

          the average daily means

    confused in the air
            between T
            bond or bag

    confounded in the act
   
      relative to the stubby
         
  ness of the relative
                         
                          stubs of your fingers
       
           the relative-
           ly         stub-
           ble         of
           your face

    the relative pieces, as you know I mentioned to you

        angels fear locks,

                     bagels


2.

not quite standing on the table

             “are you going
                                      to pay me
                           for it”

“yes lots”

    LOTS!

“I don’t have a cover   ;   I have a spine!”

             underground for the Hong

Kong Police

        so why are there birds?

      your birds

        the toad is the ugliest of amphibians”

even when eaten

  by your birds

        let’s go;    the story is surprising!


   to cover the evidence


   
             , mucking around


3.


who cares if

        we’re missing the incised point
                              near the pot roast

lost in the rain

        which
        evidently
        gets me wet


                                to lick a sore spot


        to make
        a spot we
                tter


“we’ve gotten back to the original”


   
        THE AURA,

    
 but it’s only a bagel
                 
           (hidden in the picture frame

an exuberant

first touch

                     an accidental convergence

of finger prints
           

           
            if you dust my fingertips

     will it reveal your fingertips


                        rubbing off each other
                        the muted way we touch


4.

            clapping to carry on

because the silence

even if it’s not

        feels like silence


even if the radio’s on
                                    & cars push the air
                            again
 
      in a sigh

       
knowing from here
                                                        in its past
       
   that the future will
                           be a better place for
      

                             clapping to carry on

the comfortable space

we didn’t even leave behind

                                           to carry on

the passing sound
the movie magic

                               that we found

                                  

                                 in the bottom freezer

                     iced to a box
             of freezi-pops


and the celery that we can’t even           begin to understand

               how it would have gotten there


to understand the reason
                                          is to understand all reason

gotten there,  
                                                  drooped & brooding

in a home appliance


(there’s no room for shadows in the sink)


5.

in the distance

a sun exists as if to say

    “there’s another reason

to wear dark glasses


            other than to hide
the color of your eyes

or the eyes of the man       I buy the paper from

    ( it’s the importance of
          being down

                                 so we are
or are not
                  depending on which
                     fill our socks
  
      & a quote worth saving)

even if         the papers are actually stacked
                                                                       on a table

in the distance
                        for free
                                      & I never even buy the paper

from the dime store counter


of a distant


   garment removal in the living room district

intent on loosening
                               the skin


         from our tomes



                    like a city passed the idea phase


but before the time of the great geographic importance


6.
    here are the answers:

        trying to hairdry

a bad lie
       which does so

                              under the sleeper


           sofa

                                   a real small bit of magic

or something otherwise
               sprinkled over his reflection


so the cutting       hides under


            the clumps of cut hair


a give away
             of large
      of larger chunks


of negative tape loops:

         over my very head
         passing out, a larger hunk


    dinner with the trucker in the diner


    some antidote!
      some authority!
                  the pipeline!

      only so much room
       
                              in a bursting trial
                                                           balloon

tapped to continue
               bursting!


7.

the trout is a bit trouty but quite good

        ash goes in the throat sometimes

lying
    around

the hotel
                 break in                                   in the break room

                            to make it past

                                                                             the trial stage



so you’re the gentleman in the room, sir


       the stove turns                                even if
on                                                                        Mike fried
      to not get                                                                          eggs
                       gassy                                         in the dark

                  


                mistaken for a shorter man

then you’d get a later start

                                            when the sun rises later above
                           
                                                         the heads of taller men

so spend
               more time                              washing the cutting board

in the dark      

                           since the light
                                                   only reminds you
         
            of how her tongue
                                           jumps when you laugh


            only when the adventure


reaches a safe stopping

         point

                                                                            away
 
                                                                     from rolling boulders
                                                                       
                                                                                   & rolling secret
                                                       
                                                                           fast talk

                “I’m a little unsteady”
       
“who isn’t”

               


                pulling away & then back again

 
                pulling away & then back again



                   there’s only one bed              
       that’s a good omen, don’t you think

 

«±  ±»



dustin williamson is from Milwaukee, but has recently moved to Brooklyn. Recent work has appeared in Lungfull!, Shampoo, Canwehaveourballback?, and Puppyflowers. He edits the magazine and chapbook series Rust Buckle.

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