Brendan Lorber, p.2



30 BEARS IN 30 PARKAS
                                        for me on my 30th birthday

My birthday present is the pleasure
of duress      I talk strangers into watch
my things a minute & be fresh
out of body with undeserved trust

The wrong words to the wrong song
give you belongings to gather in the back
of your mouth      A flair for the molar
responsibility of      Someone’s sitting there

In 30 years my custodial gift
the punier the better      The gift of
lending me $2 is reason enough to live
Eye on my bag      The bare minimum

The blue green algae of projects      The simplicity:
You have my torn bag      I’m in the john
& yr alive      I’m on the phone so you must
keep breathing & other gifts given to me

Eddie’s new home with plugs      A watch
of Spanish pockets      No good luck calls
from 18      only contemporary email
inbox amilking      Afterschool self-destruction

Incendiary footstools      Deep fried endive
The triumph of cow      When thirty sinks in
what does it sink in?      You don’t need Paddington
to know which way the wind’s blowing