posture()

insufferably.selfish,
i.stand(in.early_summer.heat)
holding(two.wooden.sticks);
elbow_length;
nothing_else;

on.the.floor:
 percussionist;
 immobilised;
 black_foil.wrapped;
 small.cruelties(packaged.for.transport);

his.wife(leant.at.counter);
always.positioned(where.he.swung);
wet.iron(still.clinched.her.neck) —
 the.drummer’s.hand
 she.never.unshouldered;
 a.grip.learned
 like.posture;

every.other.woman’s.bedsheets
wrinkled.just.like.hers;
throats(trained.shut);
bloated;
apologies(swell.then.rot);
guilt(has.no.scent);

fevered;
laboratory_trained;
i.watch(him.block.the.hallway) —
 conditioned.quiet;
 tail.lifted;
 metal(driven.deep.enough)
 to.teach(obedience);

i.will.see(him.once.more):
 light(frosting.white.linen);
 palms(praised.for.precision);
 raw.material(blessed) —
  fertiliser;
  recycled.into.soil;

brief.chemical.accident;
unnoticed;
pardoned;
nail_sealed;

his.wife(teeth.lacquered-red);
poised_with.censored.grace;

the.sky.behaves;
i.do.too;

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[image.credit: Indecent desires 1968]