……(nor were they much for winking. In that way, we were similar,
the meat and I, our faces full of twitches, rhyme-hinged on awkward
hitches. Our expenses were expansive, like, excuse me, we’d better
have it: gold wallops, white eggs, even the sterling shone
over-basket. Got water? It showed, that slouch. Little tick marks
smeared the day with been-blown kisses. Sure, we were angry,
and lonely, overmouthed. Our stains showed only in movies, filmy
stings set to melt. Believe we fasted slow. When real hit its stride its pace
was to track as a body is to pelt, fast marks hitting black as a belt-
splayed vein.) Outstanding image: pollen-basted body; body
in the no.

Anne Marie Rooney is the author of Spitshine (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2012) and The Buff (The Cupboard, 2011). Her work has been featured in the Best New Poets and Best American Poetry anthologies. Born and raised in New York City, she currently lives in New Orleans, where she is a teaching artist.