S a m B i c k f o r d —

Diary 

The dash compounds or subtracts
depending context,

long for an interpersonal Icarus.

Underneath ambition is not
a thatch work porch,
a  mean drunk daddy 
a vain absent mommy:

underneath ambition is
worms. Only worms. 

Leave a message for myself:

man, you stupid twit,
get well.
There’s blue lines in my bedroom.
The sky isn’t blue,
it’s blue.

Antagonism Bit

I’ll snoot my snooter 
right off my face.

I’ll snob my snot
right into your bowl.

Kiss me? Fuck you.
I hate noodles. 

There’s a poodle tower
outside your door,

that’s 164 eyes
jiggered toward the knob. 

Running round my slinky bit
means its time for the meat toupee. 

Stop it, just stop it, Mom.
I’ll eat the bunny raw.

Workaday

Success thought begins in dirt.
Dollars want me, baby.
My poem begins in the poem
of my poem within and without.

Love what you love 
and you’ll never love 
love again.

It’s time for an exercise. Crack
an egg without breaking
the shell. If you love what you eat 
the shell will never show your work.

Kill an animal for food
but keep it alive.
Migrate a sustainable workflow
and bring it everywhere you go.

Costco #7

My straw
man antagonist
whispery 
devils cowardly 
vanishers in blunted light
a lie would be invisible 
problems purchased solutions
go inside the TV feel through 
the microwavable breakfast eggroll 
tango’d bulk 
probiotic go past the fruit 
snack gummy purchase 
box frame the tire 
sales man hang the tires 
off your ears imagine 
whereto next intra-
thighed heat powering
a whining john
boat shine bounce 
off the reeds see where 
the purchase box takes 
you not the general 
you but the “you” 
you the ceiling is the roof
cicada sound rips 
  a box 
overflowing with apples spilling 
tin onto the tin 
boat floor.

Costco #46a

Curious is an active version of open
ness. Beautiful things have a monopoly 
on beauty; a bad cherry 
pie is a pie.
Circles are a rather smug shape, 
don’t you think? 
How they complete themselves.

Being an audience at an audience-
pleasing movie arranges my guts 
into ribbons of pudding.
I close my eyes
And show the class a curriculum 
of plug-in wildlife, electrocuted troll
dolls, petroleum-fueled cars 
hooked into Tesla charging stations.

.