“George [W.]’s first English assignment [at Andover Prep] was to write an essay about an emotional experience. He chose his sister’s death. He struggled to find the right words. He wanted to write ‘and the tears ran down my cheeks,’ but he had already used the word ‘tears’ several times. So he turned to the thesaurus his mother had given him when he left home. He searched for another word for ‘tears.’ He wrote: ‘And the lacerates ran down my cheeks.’ “ --Kitty Kelly, The Family (2004)

“Delivery Failure Notice”

our children is learning to die
the lacerates ran down
in khaki, in flannel, in black
the lacerates ran down
with fancy toys, in the broken streets
the lacerates ran down
& their cries is not news
the lacerates ran down
their blood is not news
the lacerates ran down
their pain counts for nothing next
the lacerates ran down
to the immortal
the lacerates ran down
glory of Donald Trump’s haircut
the lacerates ran down

09 28/29 04