SM

as if closeness is a cure

in the stories people touch each other
in the bathroom, in the supply closet, under

a blanket or through latex, leather. collared
& splayed. begging — as if touching’s

the thesis. in the stories a whole fist.
hands everywhere. skewered at both ends until

a last shudder saves the day. then pull up the sheets
& drift, satisfied, into forgetting. meanwhile

everyone i love is going extinct.
i turn on the lights

& elsewhere a massacre. elsewhere a school:
rubble again. a prison. dogs split apart in the heat.

meanwhile things keep being what they are.
so. how else to get touched. but admitting: this hurts

everywhere, it hurts         it hurts.