Certificate of Participation

Edging your way around the rim of a hole

you're pretending isn't there.

Good try, it said. You did all you could.

There's a little truth in every joke,

my mother used to say.

Not just her. Lots of people

say that.

A single warm drip flowing

sluggishly down your leg

There was no testing available

You gave it a shot, it said.

You gave it your all.

A for effort.

The small pleasures

have shrunken down so as to barely register.

The world glimpsed through a peephole,

and poorly lit besides.

Every feast is a mere crumb on your tongue,

every orgasm here and gone so fast

you’re not sure it even happened.

With no facial expression

or vocal inflection

You'll never really know

An entire world in every drop of water

A entire universe melting in your fist

You’ll always be a winner

in my book, it said.

I admire your perseverance. You’ve

really got guts.

When you’re tumbling

and tumbling

and tumbling

and just wishing

you would hit the bottom already

How do you keep the poison from annihilating you

when it’s in the air, the water, the very sunlight

It eats you from the inside

it hollows you out, leaves you nothing

but a thin, brittle shell

Good try, it said,

erasing you completely

with a wave of its hand.

No one noticed.