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Tinnitus

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There are things that I think

and things that I feel

 

     but by misunderstanding gravity, I've only spread discomfort by

 

raking fingernails

across inflamed flesh.

 

A few fifths ago, I traded one half-way house for another

and soon, it felt like I’d been born there, too:

 

     down

     down

     down

 

a slimy, tiny human pulled from the womb,

 

a slimy, tiny human

     swaddled

in the newspaper pages that had printed my name, address

and crime.

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And in this way, I inherited the earth.

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After eating too much aspirin my ears began to ring. But even so, in the blur of days,

 

I ask for one thing., and one thing only:

 

That the bathroom be fitted with more flattering light because, after all, this was the one place where I was able to see myself.