(Why must I) So now I must be bad ass kick ass
Give a skinny rat's ass
What is it about my cul d'enfer
That sets you down on your ass
Take my sorry ass and kiss it

Flailing like fish upriver failing upward
Why spawn, when
Fish wants to be, knows the wave, knows the water
As water knows to tug the leaping fish

Why have him when I can love him

Culpa, mea, felis, Felix!
Big cats in my sous soul, padding, lynx and panther
Make a space for my love, clear it
For he will spread like water (je ne coule pas)
Into this crawl space
These floorboards undone by threats termitic
Or creepy crawlies, water-borne and surface-skimming
The goldflake, peeling, glisters, and walls show
Signs of damage by water
Does that scare the cats? And will my tiger's stripes recede
Pull back to bare
Filed teeth and pink-red tongue

Where is my friend
Can I not (why can't I) journey with my friend
Why must I wander through his dream
And you in my zoo, my waking life

He's spoken in a fumbled moment
Of his feeling
And if I could oblige him, he said
Why, he'd like that
"Unbearable," he said
As if the press of that word
Were enough to draw me into his murk mirth mouth
Full of dates and figs, citron
It's all talking beasts, you see, and all the words
Are known, I know them
But if once your voice gives out
What is that