Present Vanities

my eyelashes are long & straight & point
towards my next footstep

this girl who’s lonely once told
me I have a perfect nose
unbroken I guess & she wanted to kiss me

my teeth if I never wore braces are brown
& jutting & suit me well       but they’re straight

my nose       shrewd when it needs to be
I really like my nose

my face gives the right impression       most of the time
I look like young Liam Neeson

before I sleep & the shards of things
flake off like clovers
I want to tell somebody I forgot to notice so much

when I dream no one has a face
I can remember & none of this matters
I’m an easy Romeo       cavalier       me without a finish
I sit tanned on a beach somewhere
sending people away       slow believers
whistling one like St. James Infirmary Blues
over their shoulders
getting softer & softer as I wake up forgotten still