un be k now nst a st ash
un der the rug         a reg
ular          abomi   nat i on
 
 
on  ly         a car to       on       mi   rage
or   st      raw to    break   the came  l
out back be hind the slid ing frame
 
 
if th is     point an dc lick   fame
is raz or jaw or in stag ram par
iah   (par cel & par ty)   towhat
 
 
ex tent do I o wet his pleas an try?
even     tu    ally       y’all enter       an
even     ing al   read y   ren  de    red
 
 
all road s con verge to reg u late
a    reg     u   lar       ab dom           in
al & all           the     for est ss urge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
R.J. LAMBERT’s debut poetry collection, Mind Lit in Neon, is newly available from Finishing Line Press. Other poems have appeared in Copper Nickel, Harpur Palate, and Tupelo Quarterly, and are forthcoming in The Worcester Review and the anthology Without a Doubt (New York Quarterly Books). He teaches science writing and health communication at the Medical University of South Carolina and can be found online at rj-lambert.com.