Elisa Gabbert & Kathleen Rooney

I was sick of the outskirts, where girls have

to wear skirts. Just like you said, it's a whole

different town downtown. When we took our

contacts out & started reading Watership Down

aloud together, I forgot all about the revolution.

It was quite a revelation: prescription

shades make it possible to wear glasses

& be cool. This is where we go to eat with 24-

hour party people. The name of the diner? 24-

Hour Twilight Zone. The staff? Zombies: bony,

stoned. It reminded me of a B horror movie.

Bring either a skeleton or a skeleton key—secret

directions in the "Missed Connections" section.

I checked my voicemail, while you were recopying

the menu in Sanskrit, hieroglyphics, or possibly

wingdings. We nibbled at a little bit of breakfast.

Our own tiny kingdom of love? No. Something

less soulful, like a booth at McDonald's, though

you seemed impervious, eyes locked on my shirt,

wondering, Leporidae: family of leopards, or

variety of rabbit. I wanted adventures in

wonderland, not misadventures in narcolepsyville;

wake up, sleepyhead—I don't want to yell.

Your uncle wrote a book on the details of hell.

Your father had a bridge play named after him

& bridge is full of directions: N S E & W—

I'm afraid of where you might take me.

I'm afraid of birds & bees. A busy schedule

trumps anxiety, & if I had one, I'd tattoo it on

my right arm. If I signed this hole in the ground

instead of your dotted line, what could

be the harm? To do more good than harm's

always been my goal. You blamed it on

the rainy season, but there's a reason I felt

suspicious before moving. The name of the

complex is Lostmore Apartments. When I lost

my sense of temporality, I was at a loss

as to how to make even temporary sense

of the senseless & starry wide-world. They

shut off the heat & somehow it was colder

inside, so we slept in our car last night.

Sucked so hard. But we got the docs.

The last one said: the only way to get rid

of your soul is to sell it & if this means

walking into the hands of the devil so be it.