there is no evidence that deep kissing has resulted intransfer of the virus, no one can say that such transmissionwould be absolutely impossible.’–The Surgeon General, 1987I know you won’t mind if I ask you to put this on.It’s for your protection as well as mine–Wait.Wait. Here, before we rush into anythingI’ve bought a condom for…
I just didn’t get it—even with the teacher holding an orange (the earth) in one handand a lemon (the moon) in the other,her favorite student (the sun) standing behind her with a flashlight.I just couldn’t grasp it—this whole citrus universe, these bumpy planets revolving so slowlyno one could even see themselves moving.I used to think…
Gautama teaches ‘All is emptiness’and ‘There is no self.’In the 20th century A.D.Barbie agrees, but wonders how a manwith such a belly could pose,smiling, and without a shirt.
flipped the way we like them. And ham ham ham!Americans need ham! Nothing airy like debate for me!Pigs will become the new symbol of glee,displacing smiley faces and ‘Have A Nice Day.’Car bumpers are my billboards, billboards my movie screens.Nothing I can say can be used against me.My life flashes in front of my face…
and tried to drag me into their pickup. I crossed the streetthen ran in the opposite direction, puffingagainst the incline. The stranger thrust into reverseand, when I wouldn’t talk to him,threw a bag of McDonald’s trash at me,Stuck up bitch. I stopped drinkingwhen I realized I was fightingfor the vodka at the bottom of the…
with my black Pilot Razor ballpoint pen.Ever since 9/11, I’m a nervous flyer. I leave my PentiumProcessor in Florida so TSA can’t x-ray my stanzas, penetratemy persona. Maybe this should be in iambic pentameter,rather than this mock sestina, each line ending in a Pennvariant. I convinced myself the ticket to Baghdad was too expensive.I contemplated…
Having sexual relations with a male animalis taboo and punishable by death.As long as the fish are femalesaleswomen in tropical fish stores are allowed to go topless.Adultery is punishable by deathas long as the betrayed woman uses her bare hands to kill her husband.Saleswomen in tropical fish stores are allowed to go topless,but the gynecologist…
because I was married to someone else,because I wasn’t supposed to have been drinking,because I was in fancy hotel roomI didn’t recognize. I would have told youright off this was a dream, but recentlya friend told me, write about a dream,lose a reader and I didn’t want to lose youright away. I wanted you to…
just won the National Book Award.The name ‘Ai’ is pronounced ‘I’so that whenever I talk about the poet Aisuch as I’m teaching Ai’s poems again this semesterit sounds like I’m teaching my own poemsor when I say I love Ai’s workit sounds as if I’m saying I love my own poemsbut have poor grammar. I…
of Filipinos, when my husband says yes,he could also mean one of the following:a.) I don’t know.b.) If you say so.c.) If it will please you.d.) I hope I have said yes unenthusiastically enoughfor you to realize I mean no.You can imagine the confusionsurrounding our movie dates, the laundry,who will take out the garbageand when….
