after Linh Dinh

they asked me but i said no     the first time at least     so
they insisted said in the nicest possible terms     that i

was crazy a danger to myself or at the very least a clear
and present threat or some shit like that which is no

laughing matter kept me a couple days in any case     kept
numbers all polite & clinical     with hallways &     white

coats     mindcandy     buzzing fluorescence      which was
all supposed to help but little did they know      i loved

stole words from a reference text rearranged them into
a sandwich was very remorseful naturally as no     i think

this is all a big     misunderstanding i said again     & got to
go home this time      no not even piercing the window

with a waterfountain      not busting out as some old
stoic trope or anything just straight home to an empty

room with the blinds shut     ran into them the next day
then had the best little masquerade party where only the

pills were invited my roommate walked in like
                                                                                oh.

so i heard      it was a miracle she was alive at all     didn’t
find out until after not that it mattered much but one

likes to believe had they known then      maybe that bright
heroic body double at nineteen      would get a chance      to

not hesitate      grab some poems by the door      go down
a long hallway      swim under the river      breathing through

a reed then give the gods no i mean dog      i mean the
guards      the slip      so i could find her      there among the

wreckage of other people’s lives      create a diversion using
one      of her friends from the ward      to distract them all

just      long      enough      to spring      the cutest little jailbird
i knew      out the door      to winter sun and freedom      fries

slide      across the hood of her car      drive west      not look
back till we got to the sea      but i know      babydoll

that ain’t us,
                                                                                no, no, no—