____________
The Buried Life
(my glass ghost mom said no escape (no
getting out (my glass ghost mom said no
escape (I gave away my right to think (I
gave away my only I
____________
(keep screaming (but you have to try (I
gave away my right to think (I gave
away my only I
____________
(my name is I want it (say fire (pieces of
trash, pieces of wind (we had so many
fantasies (try to think (the plane keeps
bouncing (I
____________
had no right to want (my money, my body,
my oil (“may you have a big, beautiful life”
(“you can be anything you put your mind
to”
____________
(we’re all dead so, yes, joy
(the eye is my machine
____________
(burst of death (you killed the living water
(my money, my body, my oil (“America’s
horror theme park, Spooky World”
(soul of
____________
bullets (a billion sea creatures roasted alive
(clouds full of plastic (rabbit’s eyes (and I
am the fire
____________
(just tear it up (and throw it in the fire
(just tear it up and throw it in the truth
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Joseph Lease's critically acclaimed books of poetry include Fire Season (Chax Press, 2023), The Body Ghost (Coffee House Press, 2018), Testify (Coffee House Press, 2011), and Broken World (Coffee House Press, 2007). Lease’s seventh book of poems, Now What, winner of the Philip Whalen Award, will be published by Chax Press in 2027. Lease’s poems "'Broken World' (For James Assatly)" and "Send My Roots Rain" were anthologized in Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology. "'Broken World' (For James Assatly)" was anthologized in The Best American Poetry.