erica kaufman


coffee table gone bland

    "a coat held together by no more than its name" (arthur rimbaud)

rimbaud makes me think
of those pinstripes that suit.
how you dress up for dante,
musculated and bearding. you say,
fabric is an important matter. and i am too
easily effective on streets. a closet
medea. but my grandfather built
balconies. no carriages. no helium.
just sutton place. the occasional bridge.
another minimalist rung. a usual steel
bevy. but there’s no rust on this surface.
this local anchor. mired in some log jam.
these days i feel liquid. inside.
no need to explain minor surgery.


i feel no need to explain my surgery.
only four incisions. delicate. unimposing.
like fake flowers. or a coffee table turned
bland. nothing left to fumble. you say
there are lots of figures to examine. but
my lines say i used to be pretty. i think.
more willing to digest. what good
is an organ unused. jarred. a stick
figure. limbs erased. sometimes all
you have is a torso. so pythagorean.
tangential. scarred. the incredible
hulk. my pediatrician. i barely
turn yellow. difficult to bruise.
easy when it comes to hypnosis.


i’m easy when it comes to hypnosis.
always another character in there.
a mental blip personified. a girl. a mini-
skirt. pleated. i heard you lost
a leg. i feel all backbone and bile.
still healing. square in the cross section.
can you walk. in a stair well. can you
see me below. today is the worst
dialogue. poorly receptive.
you go away mid conversation.
an aerial rootlet. a rocking chair.
you say somnolent. i think of the same
place. each night. there’s an awning.
a garage. where do i park.


no room. a garage. i park. where.
you worry about odors and cars.
about dice and dilating. i’ll let you
tell me what to write. how to tally.
if you go to admitting. nothing
to drink. i snow in the summer.
a season. askew. you say what’s
going on in this corner. i feel like
an elevator but sometimes prefer to be
escalated. full of active verbs.
clairvoyant. expecting slush. you can
barely spell my name. trouble
with consonants. so last night
i snuck fives out of your wallet.


when fives snuck out of your wallet
my body not mine. hospital turns
hotel. i figure out how to become
contaminated. you have trouble finding
a vein. i have three. require a special
shot. you rely on imitation. but
everyone has change. has a character.
a multiple voice. i feel a duct. blocked.
a stone. turned wall. you make games
out of abandoned tires. i trip too
subtly. an unadvertised matinee.
another step back. proved irresistible.
paramount. precious. polarized.
here. i am in. another lobby.


another lobby. i am in. here.
where it’s hard to stretch paper.
a build up of a way. and sometimes
i wonder how you came back
from canada. so i prop up this picture
on the end table. it says “cheers!”
only i think. absent. immobile.
a kodak moment. misconstrued.
i remember when i thought i’d be happy
in print. spheres in place of periods.
when your name sounded easy.
and i felt like a noun. now you
barely see. you admire plastic. tubing.
i actually feel situated. stung.


i’m stung. actually situated.
the futon left folded. left here.
i thought i’d be happy. where.
you barely see. your wallet. so full
of active verbs. contaminated.
precious. i feel blocked. a duct.
full of advil. dilating. so last night.
somnolent. and today is the same
place. the same leg. lost. you go
away. i barely change seasons.
difficult to bruise. to fumble.
i used to be pretty. delicate.
liquid. no need to explain why
rimbaud makes me think.


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