P E R S O N A L S

    by

    C D  W R I G H T

• some nights i sleep with my dress
  on.

• my teeth are
  

  small

  
  and
  even.

• i don’t get headaches.

• since

  1971

  or before,
  i have hunted
  
  
  a bench where i could eat my pimento cheese in peace.

• if this were tennessee and across that river,
  arkansas,
  i’d meet you in west memphis tonight.

• we could have a big time.

• danger,

  shoulder soft.

• do not lie or lean on me.

• i’ve seen people
  die
  of money.

• look at admiral benbow.

• i wish
  
  like certain fishes,
  
  we came equipped with
  light organs.

• which reminds me
  of a little known fact:
  
  
  if we were going the speed of light,
  
  

  this dome would be shrinking

  
  while we were
  gaining
  weight.

• isn’t the road crooked and steep.

• in this humidity, i make repairs by night.

• i’m not one
  
  among millions
  
  who saw monroe’s face in the moon.

• i go blank looking at that face.

• if i could afford it
  i’d live in hotels.

• i won awards
  in spelling and the australian crawl.

• long long ago. grandmother married a man
  named ivan.

• the men called him eve.

• stranger,
  
  to tell the truth,
  in dog years
  i am up there.