the price of admission
you kick the sign in your forehead
with your own left foot
it isn't a guarantee by any means
something about your grace when doing so
must win the heart of the machine
shop 'til you drop
I. Brokeback Market
you check your guns at the door
the lonesome cowboys on the soundtrack
watch your every move
with rustling eyes
II. HQ Super
this is the peaceable kingdom
swans and geese are for sale
pigeons and sweetmeats
fans and automobiles and diapers
III. meat market
the lonely matador leaves his ring
for security at the carneceria
you can fight it at four
and have it on the table by seven
• Christopher Mulrooney lives in Los Angeles and has written poems in White Chimney, The Delinquent, Vanitas, Guernica, echolocation and fourW.