Shake off that narrative of the world.
Enough. Just enough. Keep
that part. Zoom in and blur.
Then make the book about disaster
your religious text. All it does is name
the fires. Drill your way through
the ocean the factories the graves.
Reward yourself with a slick drink
of oil. I’m not telling you
anything you don’t already know.
The voices below your window shout:
Neither here, nor elsewhere. Be seen to be
honest and trustworthy. After all, I am
going to leave my child with you. You
will rock her to sleep in the shale.
Already you are whispering in her ear
your long tale of ever-increasing growth.
Sasha West’s first book, Failure and I Bury the Body (Harper Perennial), was a winner of the National Poetry Series and the Texas Institute of Letters First Book of Poetry Award. She is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX.