manners and kindness conflate
and my sister is a work permit,
she makes herself at home in our turtle shelter consulate,
a kitchen table libertine taking questioning from mother
for every family secret
she has managed to uncover,
perjury at dinner
time frees me to critique, camouflage is all my parents ever let me think.
when she is timid
i am timid and my wits are insufficient,
every brigand wicked word seems to fizzle in midair,
i recall the exodus that ever
brought us here, our most accomplished pretext
and freshly-minted bodies,
this gridlock never agitates with other people watching,
smokeless-scented refugee,
the you in you that pleases me.
| Euphemism Campus Box 4240 Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4240 |