Rulers
1
No one clock ticks
all these places in
but they got the lights on
everyone
You could say there are no
secrets, no insides
but while so much feels impossible
to say ?
Sea breeze grasses where
will you blow next
2
You didn’t have to did you
(you did)
That snail is still
me still looking
right back
at me ?
Voice brash
skin rash
Please play me
that song
you sang
3
What still thinks
tens of thousands of distances
above the clouds, over the sea
Language, leaves, rain
the sea is in the air and we are
in it
Have a seat
set out a space
make a place
leave, leave
All of the
olive trees
Livin’ in the past
livin’ in Japan
Famous actress flirts
up handsome cop
liberal teacher fucks
fascist yoga mom
and so on
4
Any money
’s blood money
No ! don’t
travel that way
Memory, memory
everywhere no way
to share
Have a café
au lait
5
Be less mind
– less
or
be more mind
– less
?
“Say goodbye
into the mirror”
goodbye,
goodbye
No one owns
at least this toe
6
We secret
– ly prepare
Rehearsal
one is
a quest
ion the
other is
a state
ment
which
would
you like
to he –
ar first
I ha –
ve two
things
to say
to you
Everyone seemed
there
everyone smiling
got back with who
how sad
What we say is
metaphor
the sea doesn’t
have that door
7
Quiet, violent
citizenship
Blue and clear
stay or try
to move
Window, breeze, pausing skies
data, color, sleazy mind
draw out, into –
out
—
Bradley King’s most recent book is If they are not to freeze us to death; i.e. How the small press destroyed my life (Spiral Editions, 2025), and he has two soon forthcoming works: a collection of poems with Copenhagen Press and a novella with Keith LLC. His poetry and essays have been published by Luigi Ten Co, The Poetry Project Newsletter, Hobart, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Brooklyn Rail, Peach Fuzz Magazine, Cuneiform Press, and numerous art galleries and museums. With the help of friends, he also runs a very small press called Happy Apples.