In transit while living________________________________________________
by Tepper Brossell
dental floss spools out my inheritance
the sun pouring through the bathroom window
forms change with tiny fists
the ocean smells like a midwestern storm
elderly surfers talk of sharks
swimming into the world
to exchange an old quarter for a new one
entering the theater so early
it’s still playing the movie from before
I’m glad to stare
forget my name
egg shaped with a crunchy shell
that must have been how I came off
cut dough, absent
totally distracted by my freak out
there is too much to explain, the radio is on
it gets dark in the middle of the day
and the clocks are on military time
you call out a long name
for the type of doctor
who specializes in trying to fix a functional problem
so that the fixing itself
becomes a pleasurable activity
you don’t actually care about
sleeping near a bee in a courtyard
eyebrows in hands
the possibility of fresh stuff
from the shirt you can grate ginger on
how rare to watch something
so memorably disturbing
with your crush, struggling
to close a rusty door backwards
or search for something
you can spray-paint the tv with
a pink square with a camera inside
as an air plant
the path where frogs cross
it is comforting
to be on your way somewhere else
I don’t want to eat because I’m sad
but can if we do
bowtie pasta with peas
puffy pita with squash and scallions
a hallmark card of a lingerie dog
comes off erratic
to a kid
who remembers a lot
that I don’t
saliva keeps the knives sharp
and teeth
mannerisms at home
are oranges with flat segments
and thin shapes inside
Tuesday’s goats live in my garage
I sing freedom
as a pet moose
taking off into the woods
fleeing a white condo
with intense security systems
and survival kits
water edges onto a cruise ship
a passenger exclaims, no more surprises
becoming hypnotized by an architect
suitcases are the hard wood
of a palm tree, keeping odors trapped inside
pomegranate juice
comes out like walnuts
in sour cream soup
I have a frantic manner
running my finger over the floor in a circle
making an infographic with multiplying dots
a Billy Joel quote about saying things
that get progressively harder
to take back
a stressed chef
with a scheduling puzzle
in a picture with a potato
involved in someone’s rebellion
but conflated with life
going back to Hawaii
despite having just returned
I take a different route
since no one seems to care
anyway
a sign says, Rollercoaster OK
promising more than it has to offer
fender benders with incandescent sedans
formations shaped like a pig
in sleeping arrangements that might change
the convenience store
with a view
of sliced turkey and Sprite
I decide not to buy
deeply un-muted, I announce
that I’m searching for macaroni salad
which I find, Laura ahead of me
in the spinach line, aware
of our dueling barbeques
furry hats make up the sequence
of a social act
I must love
to obsess about my texts
answer questions brusquely
removed from traffic
where smart desert dogs
walk themselves in an amalgam
that deflates like a pastry
with concord grapes all over it
tons of frosting, and a cheap
fluffy bottom
the practice space launch
is a bed with pillows in the driveway
two goodbyes next to each other
in a display case of dry mountains
six pizzas that all look really bad
the veggie with shredded romaine on it
flying away in tangles
of arugula, something about us
always missing each other
seems tragic and suggestive
a strong spider web
walking through an edgelord’s comment
abject scuttlebutt
instead of chicken
baby versions of our faces
as two pools on two levels
the warm-up just as long as the run
olives spit good will
into my exes’ dad’s trash can
I cry by the roadkill
just being there
an extra way to be taken out
of the world
turtle shells like any other mirror
an area of complicated crests
Tepper is a baker in Hudson, NY.