SAM SAX

Chastity


before i ever had it

i used to think sex was just
a mirror
you’d stand before
and see monsters

now i know it’s something alive
you slide a knife into
that doesn’t even bleed

not much of a difference
besides the pedigree

there are all kinds of dogs
you can lay beneath

some with fancy haircuts & collars
some with separation anxiety

i used to believe in things like beauty & kindness
i used to tie up my hair & rouge my face

the first notes i got on my manuscript
were that i couldn’t leave all the men
who are dead to me and dead
in my book nameless

so i went through with a red pen
so i practiced
resurrection


178  The Paris-American

sam sax is a Fellow at The Michener Center for Writers & The Associate Poetry Editor for Bat City Review. He's the author of the chapbooks, A Guide to Undressing Your Monsters (Button Poetry, 2014) &, sad boy / detective (Winner of the 2014 Black Lawrence Chapbook Prize). His poems are forthcoming in Boston Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Minnesota Review, Normal School, Rattle & other journals.

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