The body’s strongest muscle is the masseter.
Found only in mammals, we use it to open & close
the jaw. This doesn’t mean the heart is weak, beating
its gentle syllabary of #love— but imagine if, humble
& steadfast, the masseter was the muscle of devotion.
TRASH BIN ICON
To Twitter,
Is something wrong with me? In Friends
they tell you we are all lobsters mating for life
& all of my loves have found their lobsters. Not me. (1/3)
(2/3) Yet I see #love everywhere. Inside the café
a novelist’s shadow scribbles paperback romances
of crustacea & the beady eyes of their love.
(3/3) At the bistro table, looking for lobster, I am surrounded
by #pigeons. I’m lonely
watching
the birds
p e c k & s c r a b b l e
their peristeronic mating dances
on the concrete.
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Is it weird to write to Twitter? Is it weird to send it emoji?
Do we express our love in likes or hashtags? Instead of calling
the octothorpe a hashtag, why not #love? (1/?)
(2/?) To Twitter, how do I break the lethargy of love unsatisfied?
[EGGPLANT EMOJI]
(3/?) I try to send a tweet confessing: sometimes, love
is emptiness— & now am part of the conversation about raising
backyard #pigeons in Vancouver, which is the new soft-core
sourdough starter for those who can’t raise yeast.
(4/?) Inside the café I see the reflection of a pigeon flaunting its love.
Inside the café the romance novelist exercises her masseter.
Outside I set down a bowl of vinegar, hoping to catch #pigeons with it.
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Not me, not me. I want to crawl inside another lobster’s carapace,
bootlegging the sweet ichor of its affection. Swill it down
until I’m drunk on borrowed #love. (1/2)
(2/2) [LOBSTER EMOJI] [HEART EMOJI]
TRASH BIN ICON
Birds have proportionately larger hearts than humans.
[PIGEON EMOJI]
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