A Human Problem

An unordinary melody
To the nth power (gloss)
A hollow rain
Nursed on sex
It is impossible
To work from memory
Flirtatiously grieving
Vulgar reversals
When the grammar comes
It is the report of a dream
Sprawling for pleasure
The sour eros
Of the plotted body
The aftermath dislodged
From a dirty hissing
The pleasure of syntax
Is a human problem
A soft mechanical object


Carleen Tibbetts is the author of dossier for the postverbal (Carrion Bloom Books, 2023), DATACLYSM.jpg (White Stag, 2019), DATACLYSM.jpg (Radioactive Cloud, 2018), and to exosk(elle), the last sugar (Zoo Cake Press, 2015). Her work has appeared in TYPO, jubilat, Sink, The Pinch, The Laurel Review, Datableed, Deluge, Dreginald, and other journals. She edits poetry for Dream Pop Press.