ᴡᴏᴍᴇɴ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ʜᴀᴘᴘɪᴇʀ ɪꜰ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɢᴇᴛ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴇxᴇʀᴄɪꜱᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴄᴀʀᴇꜰᴜʟʟʏ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴇᴀᴛ

Mistress Diotima does this thing where I’m the Soviet pilot

and she’s the Luftwaffe

she rejects modernity’s distinction

between Eros

and combat

what is romance

but getting dragged

around the city walls

ᴘᴇᴛɪᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴡᴇꜱᴛᴇʀɴ ᴍᴀꜱꜱ ʜᴇʀᴏɪɴ ʙᴏʏꜱ ᴀ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ ꜱᴘᴇᴄɪᴇꜱ

Porn becomes unnecessary
when one learns how to go into the world
and find stepmoms out of context

thirty five
the magic age
of desperation
as proven
by Dante Alighieri

Imagine Dante’s dinners
alone in Ravenna

one half scoop Hormel canned chicken
white rice with Kraft Singles thickened
baby carrots in Ranch dressing
Wonder bread with Jesu’s blessing

Gemma Donati
mother of Dante’s children
lived her final years
in a convent
reciting the prayer
of Saint Francis
and composing verses like this

To love so much that you forget yourself
Could end up being awful for your health

Instead count backwards ninety nine to one
Can’t do it if you’re sucking on a gun

ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴊᴏʀɪᴛʏ ᴏꜰ ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ꜱᴇxᴜᴀʟ

The cool thing

about violence

is that I have never

ever hurt anyone

I have eaten sandwiches

and gained

a lot of respect

for Italy

because they managed

to convince the world

that all French people do

is be poor

get sick

sing arias

and die

so imagine my shock

upon entering

Madame Tussauds

and seeing conquerors of nations

rendered as wax figures

with itty bitty

baby carrot

crotches

an essentially Greco-Roman error

although one wonders

if it was not for modesty

that ancient sculptors carved

such small manhoods

but an actual failing

on the part

of men

one must wonder such things

even Christ had his doubts

John Ling lives and works in New York City.