MELANIE KITTI

I found so many claws

Rip rip

Found them on the lawn where they

put rips in a pair of sneakers from below

Drank milk from various udders 

and I paid a witch to do it

I paid to watch her drink

She left the udders dripping

ripped her cheeks with one of the claws 

I filled her third eye

I whipped a pigeon on the breast 

It was about to put its jaw around 

a potato on the table edge 

Frayed at the edge

Teeth gnashed

I made the pigeon feel shame

Then I caressed the pigeon’s wing tips 

with my finger tips

was fluent in words that

counted backwards, three

I caressed the wing tips back and forth and 

I put pressure on the vein’s end

I dropped all of my peas in the background 

Turned around

I turned my peas around the wrong way 

Picked too many peas to bead on the thread 

and I spent time in the fog

I spent time with the pigeon and the fog froze 

I kept a very tight grip on the thread end

I collected the fog and I weighed it

Lost my grip

Ran between my fingers and my head shrunk 

Mash all over

I whipped the pigeon once again 

The pigeon’s jaw popped