[01/25/26]

[POETRY]

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

by Lili Looney

You could never look good with my teeth
Scars like cracks on a screen 
Radiation glowing along the edge 
Moths smother between your gums 
You go out in the sun and now it needs an ibuprofen 
The temperature is rising so the winters get colder 
You walk bravely and the world gets older 
Knowing you're just watching 
Arrogantly waiting 
For the souls to blur
For the ride to start 
For the inflamed sun to burst
For wearing the hat the rabbit has to jump out of 
You change the channel and spit out broken wings
The naked and old crawl in rotation around your recliner 
You like to watch them crawl and forget about resting your feet 
Rewatching Vietnam war documentaries 
Being so thankful you can't remember 
Anything you did 
And the world doesnt have to beckon 
When you think you're ahead of it 
Now that youre encased in glass
Now that you've killed your self 
You walk on every letter 
Used to spell the truth 
I read them to myself and know that everybody else
Can't see your feet between the lines 
Or the reflection off your case 
But it comes to me and only me 
It stays closer without touching 
I even asked for rotting flesh 
They punished me with nothingness 
And kept the A/C running 
I've watched you through ink
Through electricity and vines 
Through the trapese wires between the palms 
Keeping everyone in line 
It started as an investigation 
Now sustained by dying 
Now I can only smell myself 
The stench of sentiment 
And soiled trying 

LILI LOONEY is not a poet.