Foremost forbidden is now
a shimmery prelude:
shorts, garments in early fall lay bare
tangerine lines, shapes like
i's and hearts and
tic-tac-toes

the hope is that they
bleach in the noon sun,
fade to white, to peach, to
smooth unaffected beige

grey-tan, such
unwholesome blues.

they are my
marks against humanity; my
badges of misanthropy and
egocentric annihilation; prettier teals
were not found, not even amongst
the contusions lining my gums and
poisoning my teeth

oh, gods, what
cringing bliss, what
indulgent missteps for such
giving postures, all of my idols
reduced to papyrus herring gulls
birds of frenetic idolatry.