And You 

We took the arm  

down off the shelf,  

softly creeping 

everyone the fuck out.  

It was holding  

a pack of cigarettes, still.  

Cloves, and that’s not even the most disturbing thing.  

Last night, I dreamt about her 

and her and him 

and you 

and you 

were the one 

not kissing me. 

She said that when she drinks 

she feels heat pouring into her left breast, 

like tequila turning over in bed and leaving 

an impression. Can you hear me? 

Dear goddess, can you hear me now? 

I just want to thank you for your patronage. 

The Elms 

         after H.D. 

O be we—

always we, we red wind 

and salt marsh. We— 

we wood-flowers, we 

wood-grass. We pine-hills and 

we bramble-fruit hair: we 

as buried roots and acorn-cups. We—

we green from green, we thickets, 

we ankles and earth, us— 

the feel of between, we. We tree-resin, sweat 

sweet to the taste. We enchanted 

tufts of love, we. 

Youphoria

You were soaked in sugar water when you were a baby, sprinkled 

with cinnamon. Now you’re starting to ferment ephemeral, you. 

You’ve created yourself, a little ocean. You wash your hair on Wednesdays 

and Saturdays. You beat me up with your mouth, my favorite bruise, my favorite hue. 

You’re the Mario Kart queen, cheesecake-sweet cheeks, cozy lips, biting hips: 

wine-drinking fiend, a menthol-free Stefani dream, a lavender lover. 

You think my crazy is cute, call me a kiwi, like the bird, like 

no longer an ugly duckling, like transformed, don’t  

mention the scars, just kiss them. Your kisses 

are gonna give me cavities. You’re just too damn sweet. 

Your lips are warm, like a fish tank. Like an aquarium. Yum. You 

tell me I’m beautiful and I manage to say thank you. You say, thank you 

for saying thank you. We’re both very thankful here, thank you very much. 

Tyler Friend is (a) an apricot/human hybrid; (b) from Tennessee; (c) the author of Ampersonate; (d) avoiding choosing a preferred pronoun.