Elaine Khan
Three Poems
Conjecturing When and Where: This Cut is Fresh
oh god
the pattern full
is infantile
but why?
my personal bank
is blank
if you were
my final error
(I lay my head / onto the staircase / turn/ into / a slug / a rope / it
comes / to life and curls / around / my body / that is how)
I like it
Inside Me is a Separation
standing like a Y
a crease
light falls
thick as meat
you can stand in place
and still
the world will blow on you
a shape on a wall
the sound of a freeway
I don’t care if it lasts
baby
I am writing this to you
I did not consent
to destiny
you can stand in place
and I will pay
exactly
what it costs
when I have nothing left to say
it is because life
is happening away from me
Women Wear Clothes to Demonstrate Their Grief
Today my therapist suggested
I try lying down on top of graves
She had a leaf stuck to her cheek
But I didn’t tell her
I’m depressed
because my orgasms alone are uninspiring
And the most money I have ever made
was when I got hit by a car
Ruby Robinson
Ruby Robinson
Ruby Robinson