a thousand ways to be human


we poked out the eyes of a dove
hung him on a pole
to deter his kind

we shot down buffalo
until it was winter on the plains

we visited places until they faded
and began to give up color

we forgot how a tree grows

can I be born here
if the sand blows in the wrong direction
and the beetles are lost

do I want to listen to a circle of people
who don't know what they should do
with the remains

a throat got slit
the scar is visible