So you made a carrot soufflé–
no one cares about the mush

orange and earthy you made
in the oven. That shit is under

control. Look instead at Joshua
trees burning down the desert

runway. That’s a catwalk. A
catcall to the Earth from

your rolled-down pickup
truck window. See

how hot they are? It’s
like those cruel videos

where the cat’s caretaker
places a cucumber

behind the off-guard animal,
and people laugh

as the creature flees in
surprise terror.

These videos were big
for a summer. This

slideshow of tiny
cruelties– it’s harder

to find new spaces
to hide.

(originally published in G*MOB, Spring 2022)