Coming in Eight

my next week is not my own
it belongs to the Gentlemen Callers and Duende
it belongs to
Sarah
honorbound to Latrobe, Milificent and
the Elks Lounge

mostly

it belongs to the Advanced Color Darkroom at Columbia College


we all stand around
the processor
families
the way tribal peoples
gather about warming things
altars
fireplaces
televisions

we are all sick
coughing and sneezing
caligulan germ orgies
in a room with no lights
about
50 of us

the processor packs the germs like
so much dust
and we collect them
study them unwittingly
and
become
weak
break our backs with
oversize
boxes of paper

who breaks their backs with paper?

and
count backwards
two tuesday
when we will be free and forget each other's names