the lizard king/ the glyph

…and the faces of greed rushing past/ pinched and dried and impossible—Bukowski

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the Exxon kisses double “x”-ed
fueling the subliminal

the empty hand that’s always digging in the gley in the gumbo

buried in the chains, in the long, linking decades

buy cheap, sell dear
other people’s labor
police
the tiny organisms

that live and die and sink like plankton
to the bottom

money
never sleeps
be careful of the sequels

this world, world, world stampedes like bulls into Khodynka Field
this world, world, world stampedes like bulls into Khodynka Field
this world, world, world stampedes like bulls into Khodynka Field
this world, world, world stampedes like bulls into Khodynka Field
this world, world, world stampedes like bulls into Khodynka Field

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Kathleen Hellen’s collection Meet Me at the Bottom is forthcoming in Fall 2022 from Main Street Rag. Her credits include The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin, her award-winning collection Umberto’s Night, published by Washington Writers’ Publishing House, and two chapbooks, The Girl Who Loved Mothra and Pentimento.

Kathleen's Book Recommendations

Heard-Hoard (2021), Atsuro Riley
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo119244526.html

Sight Lines (2019), Arthur Sze
https://www.coppercanyonpress.org/books/sight-lines-by-arthur-sze/

Deaf Republic (2019), Ilya Kaminsky
https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/deaf-republic