ALYSE KNORR

Conversation

all day my blood stays in my body    remarkable   or
as the pope might say   ad majorem dei gloriam    my body
a tower in itself    a list of other sins    for the copy machine   
65 Glorias    for the same bed not touching   80 apostles 80
creeds    above the boiled river      two drones for hands
or one sad elevator    in this bed   an emergency   Gabriel
in the dream    plastic & immaculate    for other sins
I dip my fist to river beds     pray to Mary & to Mary’s son     
for the hands     pray to pops    begotten    again    they say    
tickling their hearts   what eyes turn thou upward    beseeching   
a litany of error    in their X-ray gowns    a great sum:           
what is authentic      they ask     & I flagellate an answer 

Offerings

shook up my guts
under a yellow table
     you were there &
it was a secret—how
much I had &
     how much I wanted

*

running again you
with your harpstring
     sounds & little hat
your hair so long
I never noticed how
     fair it really was 

*

whiskey OJ sits
sentinel on porch
     allowing what brand
of toothbrush what
sleeping attire which
     side to turn to kiss? 

*

I have eaten up my
lungs—it’s true—when
    I speak it’s from the
stomach breathing’s
    down there too 

*

racked & stretched &
out of mouths—which
    snow is this exactly?
oh baby you don’t
know how but I bet
    I could teach you 

*

are you as scared of
you as I am & how
    do you measure it?
once I drew you a
mountain & you knew
    just what it meant 

*

how’s your werewolf
job? is that a silhouette or      
     are you made of solid
light? all I know is when you
whistle to the palm trees
      I quake within & without

Working

at the condensery
looking for you

out the foggy
window   I ate

a whole bar
of soap   I wore

my very best shirt
if only you could see

if only your voice
could directly enter

my ear drums
& beat beat beat

them into some
common kind of sense

Alyse Knorr is an assistant professor of English at Regis University and, since 2017, co-editor of Switchback Books. She is also the author of the poetry collections Mega-City Redux (Green Mountains Review 2017), Copper Mother (Switchback Books 2016) and Annotated Glass (Furniture Press Books 2013); the non-fiction book Super Mario Bros. 3 (Boss Fight Books 2016); and three poetry chapbooks.