neck

my neck was stretched
on a noose of behoove
I impressed myself with the sudden thought
that I never did much
to deserve a shot
but a paper cut
from the pages of my favorite novel, left
bookmarked in blood,
just a trace,
p. 98

right where the devil steps offstage
and lets his clowns do all the dirty
work. Play

it again Sam, if she
can take it I can
but she's not going to take it
any more, no, no

so let it all go
as we swing to black,
I can still breathe fine, but
my neck

it snapped