alex cuff
animal human machine
i abandoned human
moved outside my body brushed
my eyelashes better to see
you see me
and we got along fine
both of us having that amnesia
that lets us bring things into the body
take them out
and move them around the house
i watched movement witnessed transaction
at 3:03 a shadow cut the building in half
at 3:10 the sun went in
the building stood whole again
or so I thought
when I see a thing
i make it real
a woman naturally eclipsing a street lamp
a woman naturally smoking in the hallway
a woman naturally standing at a table counting money
a woman naturally wrestling bacteria with her own hands
a woman naturally in a room petting all the stuffed animals
a woman naturally organizing bags of flour on a shelf
a woman naturally removing splinters from her thigh with a tweezer
a woman naturally tyrannizing a room of windows
a woman naturally at the bottom of a river
a woman naturally in a sunroom confessing to all the plants
a small white room
on the ground floor
pillows stacked like cats
here and there color
a dog barking
the bed and a dust ruffle
the dresser and its weight
the clapboard dusty
the bed a pair of wire framed glasses
a dumb light bed
built for one
as if we’re expected to die
in our sleep wearing shoes
in the bed masturbating
the room is a giant aperture
the mattress is very expensive
a large dog and the small of my neck
a water soluble paradox
the rooms are connected
the damage is muzzled
dreams are not accidental
a pencil cactus
slanting rectangles of paper
they come built into the rooms
I walk across the room toward the door
I knock into a piece of furniture
I don’t want to be sentimental
but I walk across the room
and objects move out of my way
the dog had me by the neck
the man was shirtless
the kitchen floor was cracked
the man was blond and bearded
the dog was toothed
the door opened from the inside
the motion was not a magician but a man
not (a) disappearance but (b) invisibility
the writing on the wall was in Greek
the nails on the wall held nothing visible
a crash of motorcycles projected miniature
the kitchen floor was cracked
the man had me by the neck
the miniature was not so miniature up close
the magician was shirtless
the dog cracked
the crash opened from the inside
the motion was not a magician but a floor
the writing on the wall was bearded
Alex Cuff teaches public high school, studies herbal medicine and edits No, Dear magazine. She lives in Brooklyn.
Alex is sporting a 4 Mixed Texture Vintage Chainz mactaggart piece.