upward mobility

middle class creation myths make
blood feel conveniently poisonous
/ an ode to the benefits of  hard
work   if you  live in  a dream /
you  can just float up like a cloud
      of  white  smoke . new  rich kids
go to high school  on television
to  have their   fun . understand  that
scandal  is local  to  their
bodies and every other  life is
secret or otherwise obscene/ that
there have been enough exercises
 in   pity.

a birthday poem

or means of affection, otherwise
for atcr:

i make you out of words
first,
by necessity / from - memory:

there are letters tucked in
              - to the curve of my neck
        gaps in my spine
& sometimes
between my
fingers or lips
or thighs,
    even.
or          nowhere,
as points close to me
as you are
— far away -
tend to be.
and I speak
your native silence