works by william pham, 2005-present

index | poetry | fiction

Papercut me to death

Ask me for a cup of coffee and
Cradle me in your arms and
Papercut me to death.

I should never have married a writer.

Bathe me in your manuscripts and
Rub ink on my face with your fingertips and
Drown me in corrective fluid.

I never should have married a writer.

Evoke my ghost.
Theorize my trauma.
Lie next to me, lie with me, lie to me.

I should have never married a writer.

My mother said they were never good for nothing,
You were never good for nothing,
You never were good for nothing,
Nothing mother, nothing at all.

You write such words, you write such words,
and they were never good for nothing,
such words were never good for nothing,
nothing writer, nothing at all.

I should never have married you.

copyright (c) 2007 by william pham