The villagers are
watchful
in their booths at
boston market
The boys living on
sulfur
and talking about
feelings
and memory The
united states
is the collective
process of
demanding feelings
and a certain
memory I would live
on synthetics
but i hate fragility
Lonely and afraid,
my women sing, there
is no father
in me They talk about
anything
a limit allows There
is hope
of forgiveness, but
my american
corpse has been such
a disappointment
I would live on
feeling safe
and spilling secrets
It is confusing
the plain people
passing
like potato blossoms
When i first
met a trans person at
age 7
she served us mashed
potatoes
at boston market
Mother winced
and statistically it's
unlikely she
kept the job
I am worthy
of eating food i tell
myself There
is some hope of
forgiveness
for boys I would live
on their plastic
It is confusing that
words trick us
From Safe Space (Ahsahta Press, 2016). Copyright © 2016 by Jos Charles. Used with the permission of the poet.