TWO POEMS by SASCHA COHEN
The Life I Have
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
—U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald RumsfeldShe was nasty, brutish, and short.
Attached her leash to a throat.
Lynndie England, grinning, with
two thumbs up. Suck it
up, Buttercup, I’m like this in every timeline.
I think Beretta Bobcat is a beautiful name
for a baby girl. Of course
I lick boots. Of course
I take blows. The more you beat me,
said Helena to Demetrius,
I will fawn on you. Headfirst, I fall
for first responders, brawl with bully
breeds. I wear this rescue blanket
like a silver gown, to preside
as cuckoo princess of the ward, backlit
by bruise-blue lights. I am lining
our doorway with eggshells. I am faking
my death with ketchup. One day someone
gave me a life
and I hated how it felt.
the future makes me carsick
I’d rather be a pickpocket than train a robot.
The results of my career aptitude test are in:
artful dodger urchin beat layabout
who sucks from the warm teat
of the state. I’d rather poison the king.
My results came back: Assassin.
Did you know boric acid is fatal when ingested?
A Florida man died after going
down on his wife
who had placed a capsule inside herself first.
It dissolves into a grainy white paste, safe
on the skin but not
on the tongue
so for once she loved it when he lapped her up.
At the center of the word industry is “dust”
The lake where I once fed ducks an empty bank
An old man in suspenders wanders the streets
and I’m feeling sentimental tonight
Like watching lovers clutch each other
while the great ship splits in half
I’d rather take my dress off
before the water rises
Sascha Cohen is a writer from Los Angeles. Her poems have been nominated for the Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize.