I mean I was thinking about
punishment & how I come to
want it in the form of denial
the replay of fort da
is the fort for dad
symbols of erection
cushion placeholders for
him who would like to
erase another man’s—
did I really just think
schlong?—how juvenile
desire became
like desire
without genitalia
was a form for
juvenilia getting sent
somewhere where desire
was not a prison
but also was not liberation
is there such a thing as freedom
everyone wants
we weep in the intersection
lights sway in the storm
swing balls against
the ring of the storm
one is borne by
the possibility of satisfaction
we weep b/c we fail
in our doggy suits
hunched over
three fingers
fingering
the hub
as long as we talk
i can’t get no no no no
hey hey hey
hot click
full of it
jammed nub
dot crescent
shakey substance
or quivering light
metaphysical status
projected so long
it’s time to snooze
I’ll soothe him
his fresh internalized
dick in a way I’m not
so say gimme & let the kids have their rhythm
say discretion when
he means disclosure
stupidity a form
for beauty made as
announcement
bear another break
long for
another
return to hold
her shoes
dangle from her toe
tongue that surface
in her presence
strangers awhile
while coming gives her
everything there is
something to give
see love
like that
that power
they were
between legs
boys raised boys
not virgin but
throne thrown
down
her shoo
uh the accent
the unconscious
country I
came from
how could I say no
to hours of spit
eros for speech
no space collapse
O, O, a love to wait
for, O, a love to have
from the inside
O, I settle into
sun my breast
my son domain
O, O,
O, O,
O, O
Anna Vitale performs associative patterns of the unconscious, offering something like psychoanalytic practice as part poetic practice. She's currently writing a dissertation about suicide and language. Her short books include Unknown Pleasures (Perfect Lovers) and Anna Vitale’s Pop Poems (OMG). Other work can be found in Emergency Index 2012 (Ugly Duckling) and online at Gauss PDF, and Harriet: the blog.