DARK BLOCK

“That place is closed
because Derek a kid
I knew from high
school molested a kid
there & across
the way is a new play
ground because a kid
shot his brains out on
the slide & all
the parents were like, ‘No,
we need a new playground
now,’ ” Pete says & points.

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ANIMAL PROBLEMS

The bear says I fell asleep on him

& the bird says I’m his girlfriend

& the old turtle says he wants to touch me

& the bull says I have something that belongs to him.

Bird says he will fly me to the mountains.
Frog says he will take off all my clothes.

Bull says he will give me free mix cds & acid.
Soggy dog watches me.

It’s important to remember a frog is always a frog.
Remember a mouse lives in fear.

Remember the soggy dog in tears.

Remember the fish & how it stinks.

The mouse makes holes

in me (they all do) old turtle too
& they make holes in ice to fish
& they make holes to bury me.

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Katie Foster is a student at Bennington College. Her poetry has been published in The Chapess Zine and New Wave Vomit. She is the author of the poetry collection, Animal Problems (Electric Cereal, 2015).