Leora Fridman

THIS POEM SHOULD NOT EXIST

& after Jonah Mixon-Webster

how the only thing
mine here
is sadness
and it is not mine
to play
not my move
to subdue
many men
I need
to be safe
do I need
to be safe
when only me
is safety
can I feel broke
while not broken
can safety be held
against me
concealed, safe
concealed safely
safety too
can be held
against me
like a body can
a screen can
a dead weight
not on me

Leora Fridman is the author of My Fault, forthcoming from Cleveland State University Press. She is also the author of the chapbooks "Precious Coast"(H_ngm_n Books),”Obvious Metals” (Projective Industries), “On the architecture” and “Essential Nature” (The New Megaphone), and ”Eduardo Milán: Poems” (Toad Press). With Kelin Loe, she edits Spoke Too Soon: A Journal of the Longer. She forms one fourth of the collective The Bureau.