TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRINT May/June 2020

Eileen Myles

a pig stepped
up to the
mike & said
save me

the refrigerator
door said
hello

Erin zoomed
I changed
my shirt

the filter
wouldn’t
fold

I said
what’s going
on

he said
it’s Chinese
it comes
from
China

I sd you’re
not my
president

but neither
is she

the mango
is soft today

& it doesn’t
matter what
cup I used

I wrote xxx ooo xxx
ooo xxx ooo xxx ooo
xxx ooo xxx ooo xxx

ooo I wrote xxx ooo xxx
ooo xxx ooo xxx ooo

and I could’ve gone
on forever

she wouldn’t finish
the scrabble game

cause she needed
to sleep

the connection in
my town is so
slow she’d make

her move & I’d wait

         to see it

I mean that’s why

she got sleepy

I mean say

it simply

say it

maybe therapy

can fit right

here. I mean

all of it.

the sound of her

body means

she’s waiting

for the sound

of her food

on the floor

& I’m the chef

cause I open

a can. I hear

her crunchy

chewy good morning

David you’re

my man

Joe & Charlie

are staying in

Sophie’s sick

& that’s why she’s
needy. When she’s
better she says
she’ll enjoy the
pleasures of
isolation

I guess cause
I was getting
wiggy

my dog says
I’m thinking
of going back
to bed

I say fine
I’m going
to do therapy

she’s still cleaning
her mouth
in the kitchen

she does it while
she thinks

considering
her move

and a bird outside
tweets

they can pay
me for the first
500 words
But it seems
I’m on
a slide

of staying in

it began
when the pig
spoke

previously I’d
been in Columbia
trying to pick

out my
  clothes

but eileen doesn’t
travel any more

she goes lap lap
lap

I don’t know
what u should
do a bird
goes tweet

she sniffs
my sweat shirt

you were looking
very good on
Instagram yesterday

you have no idea
even sharpening
a pencil
is a pleasure

have you tried
it

and now I
think I’ll
pee

her shadow
follows me

she goes down
ward dog

I pee

she sneezes

maybe I’ll eat

before therapy

she looks
beautiful sitting

there in the sun
next to the med
itation pillow
on the animal
print dog mats
in the sun

we’ll meditate
together
today that’s
what we’ll do

& then I’ll
mop. I’ve never
mopped a floor

before

yesterday I swept
& she had never
seen that

before

if I wash
dishes at
night everything’s
clean in
the morning

that’s what
I learned
from Erin

the sun just moved
I’ll never use you

in a poem
I’ll use everything

& it will cover
you & the

egg crinkles
& chuckles

& the toaster
moans

it was trying
to tell me something

it was still set
to melt cheese
the egg snaps

don’t forget
therapy

I forgot
I was cooking

an egg

& everything
I was so
happy

Mary made me
a pot holder

I’m fucking serious
and Honey breathes

waiting for
a taste

I’m reading Tristram
Shandy
and the Koran
and a mausoleum
of lovers

she kept
touching my foot
with her body
hint hint

I can see her
waiting feet

here have
a lick

turns out I
wasn’t so hun-
gry

she’s a loud eater
she grumbles &
snorts a piggy

sound; the pig

the pig is
still dying now

my grandmother
died of the Spanish

flu; she was 33

it’s not really true
it was pneumonia

could you die of
the flu in 1925

it was like the hummels

soup to the sick
children across
the park & Anna
caught it from them

oh this is pajamas
David

I almost forgot

who caught the marlin
today I’ve got
to ask

I forgot

I sd good thank
you &

this was an ac
cess point

and then
everything
else went on
the train
whined