incantation

the nurse asked me to rate my level of depression
and I said lucifer slip know a head of lice
I ate a doorknob at called it a 5
5 is the sexiest number
I take it to bed with me but all it
reminds me of is stairwells and
lucifer slip knot head of lice
so I sleep in the floor
as 5 dissolves into the paint
and I am left my own bogeyman
peeling the shadows from the walls
as I wicker my body into a shiver
lucifer slip knot a head of lice
today its an eight cylinder
inside my decaf coffee and my
bracelet is beginning to chafe
and I fall into my milk carton
because I was missing from the
side of it because no one is
looking for me except
lucifer slip knot head of lice

Erik Fuhrer is the author of 4 books of poetry, including not human enough for the census (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2019). His next book, in which I keep myself hostage, is forthcoming from Spuyten Duyvil Press later this year. You can find him at erik-fuhrer.com and on twitter @erikfuhrer.