Damn Straight

I knew
I had a thing for him
when I tried peeing in the next stall
and couldn’t
not in love, exactly
but a kind of goose-cooking
ninety-nine knobs groaning as they turned
there was no bug to fixate on
just forced visions of octogenarians
falling to the scent of shampoo
distilled from the navel of a unicorn

I need distance
let’s start a movement
to keep the sexy out
no deep voices (“We meet again.”)
or the hunched torsos of sheepish men
who don’t think they’re fit for worship
I’m tired of skipping stones
of waiting for a gaze
that doesn’t look past me
I am a wall
I am smitten
and sometimes, I am nothing

Po is a writer and designer based in Oakland, CA. His work has been published in Scitable, The Wire, Microsoft Design, and the New York Times. His first book, Animal Behavior, is a thriller-ish novel set in the South African hinterland. He is represented by the Laura Gross Literary Agency.