Peter Burzynski
BREAKING THE MULE
I used to know this man
who would crack
all of the world’s piñatas:
young, old, factory-made,
papier-mâché. Reckless
harvest; he didn’t care,
he wanted the clamber.
The animate fall—he
killed so many children
that records could no
longer tally the debris.
Madame Shouldn’t Sleep
Madame leaves every morning at 8:45. Madame understands time
is an arbitrary construct, but she likes having time to dance, time to play
on the grass, lie on the grass with one eye closed. With the other half-
opened she can pretend to eat the moon. Madame understands
the necessity of physics, the frugality of physics, but tries to contradict
their game. Madame never sees anything sleep because sleeping things
have always made her cry—dripping mascara into liner, into blush.
Madame’s liver is failing.
Madame’s teeth are failing. She now has a plaque on her tongue.
Madame doesn’t care for the half-hearted way in which most
anthems are sung. Madame has grown weary
of masturbating in bed—the soft push and the ruffle of stale sheets.
Madame no longer uses a comb.
Not Swan
Dear ghost,
Zero
without heartbeat,
beckoning asphyxiate
vices shame.
A mouthful of dinosaur
brain. New York City,
Union Square, be full—
diminished without
you gorgeous.
His favorite souvenir was a scarf with blue and green stripes on one side. He found it in a fabric shop in London and paid 8 Quid. He didn’t realize the pattern wasn’t finished on the other side. Nonetheless he loved his defective scarf until he lost it one night (along with his money) at a casino.
Peter Burzynski (pgb@uwm.edu) is a second-year PhD student in Creative Writing-Poetry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a M.F.A. in Poetry from The New School University, and a M.A. in Polish Literature from Columbia University.
In between his studies, he has worked as a Sous-Chef in New York City and Milwaukee. His poetry has appeared in The Best American Poetry Blog, Yes Poetry, Thrush Poetry Review, Your Impossible Voice, the Unrorean, BORT Quarterly, Hobo Pancakes, The Great Lakes Review, Kritya, Bar None Group, Zombie Logic Review, and Fuck Poems Anthology with poems forthcoming from RHINO, Prick of the Spindle, The Mackinac, White Stag Journal, The Portland Review, and Forklift Ohio.