Tempering

The exchange is not favorable to you today,

delivered to a servant to be thrown into the sea.

God loves sailors like Hell and blazes,

he licks and tosses vessels with the waves.

Long ago, the bad angels made war in Heaven;

it’s important that this assembly be tested periodically.

You may need to buy longer screws: the type,

long, with pointed lobes, hidden beneath the petals.

Life passes over a bridge of accumulated corpses

—incomplete combustion. Always use care when opening

sticking or binding doors must be replaced.

He promised to become a Christian if he won.

The government, even their representatives, seemed capable;

it’s important that this assembly be tested periodically.

The male can be confused with the male;

it lies nearer to the bones than the preceding.

While it is nice and even—a creamy and beautiful pink—

much of the life on Earth is barely able to fog a mirror.