Imagine that you, at eighteen, / in Paris for the first time with / all your loving ideals about / penises intact, in your new / mini-trenchcoat and smelling the / smell of garlic and unfiltered / smoke and assaultive coffee, were / approached from behind. Imagine / un Français, bald...

I was ashamed, but undaunted (my epithet?). / —Maggie Nelson / / / i. / / The heart is permanently gory. / / ii. / / I imbue all this pausing with great importance / but phoniness slides in like one more drink. / / iii. / / I reached too hard for courage / and pushed it furth...

1. Whatever you love most dearly / / / My dearest brother, last night / I saw water playing in the pond / where the women were swimming. / I was stationed in the House for / the Study of Water amid parapets / and ruby red columns under the / open sky. I was with a man. His / name was Cur...