In Iraq I said that word so much, heard it so often. I came home and found myself still saying it. Shrapnel's shell was first used against the Dutch at Surinam (now Guyana). The Dutch were so taken aback by the weapon that they surrendered after only the second time it was fired.

The retreating autumn deepens in the city. Water turns from silver to maroon. A fisherman smokes on the bank, looking at the rising tide. The dark tones in the landscape are often overlooked. The bank, grey in the fog.

She says, Maybe I am not, in fact, ill. The ends of all her sentences curve upward into questions. We reduce her medication with a warning: Bipolar I is a lifetime diagnosis, though we concede that perhaps Patient could do with a smaller dosage.

Vexed light on dune evening primrose. The mineral lands denuded, / this still hurts.

I'd never felt so sad engraving a trophy before, like I wanted to throw it away when I was done with it.

Hang it all Yankev Glatshteyn! / There can be but the one Fairfax / but Fairfax and my Fairfax— / Impulsn fun gedank / blitskike un rashik...

I am at my threshold. / The dirt of our daughter. / The mole of her squirming body.

Three shades of afternoon light—gluttonous— / Salt me when I open the door / I wasn’t expecting it / Marigold mouths pout / Fresh leaves threaded to greet newcomers / What a betrayal then, to curdle with sweetness!

"I am pouring my language into new containers again and again, and I make sure each container has a different line length. As I pour my language into these…

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