I.

The one where you love me
and I stop vomiting darkness to roll in it like a dog.

What’s that? Be specific about darkness?

II.

I sit at a table: take the shell, pour gunpowder
like sand, place bullet tip, compress: click
click. New shell, measure gunpowder, place
bullet: click, click.

I envy cowboys and their baths.
Knees to chin in a metal bucket, boiling
water poured across them. Dead
skin scrubbed by someone else. Lead tip
on dark gunpowder.
Holster off.

Tell me the story again. Isn’t it?
Isn’t it off? The one where you know
how to find me. Bullet
on gunpowder, compress: click, click.
and then you do.

What’s that? Shell, gunpowder, bullet.
Be specific about finding? Click, click.

I want a bullet
without gunpowder.
Click, click. To hit bone,
click and stop.
Holster off.