Eight Dollar Garbage
This week in the PEN Poetry Series, PEN America features a poem by Sarah Jean Grimm.
Eight Dollar Garbage
I approach my power
When my hair dries how I want it to
And when I exercise I become practiced
As a lung in a breeze
What seems like a brag
Is just a tailored truth
Anything in the world can qualify as
The most natural thing in the world:
The mythic poise of cats
The lilting plastic bag in 1999’s American Beauty
Really ruining the mood of the room
With a neutered intuition
It’s never too early to leave
Or too late to change
Hear, hear
Some resolutions for the new year:
To cultivate an air of apathy
To know when you’ve had enough
To be remembered for doing your own stunts
Though Steve McQueen spends most of The Great Escape
Breaking in a baseball mitt
And I’ll spend most of the next hour
Looking around for someone to cheers
Thinking, baby, don’t fall down by the litter box
Don’t leave me in this schul with these strangers
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