<div class="line">Mudslides aren’t covered.</div>
<div class="line">Nor jewelry over fifteen-hundred dollars</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">unless you have a rider.</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">A live tree taken down by a storm</div>
<div class="line">and falling through your master bedroom?</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">Covered. But a dead one?</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">Not. You’ll have to give the assessor</div>
<div class="line">access in order to make a full</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">determination. Mice chewing up</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">old wiring underneath the floorboards</div>
<div class="line">and ushering in a pity party</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">of epic proportions? Tots!</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">Walls of flame on the next ridge over?</div>
<div class="line">Nope. Tell me. Is an angry voter</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">flicking a cigarette butt</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">out of a Range Rover just an idiot</div>
<div class="line">or are they a bona fide</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">act of God—adept at doing the Lord’s</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">mysterious work? I haven’t</div>
<div class="line">cracked open John’s overblown account</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">on the island of Patmos</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">for quite some time, but I miss</div>
<div class="line">that mildewed smell seeping through</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">our family Bible. It gets me</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">thinking about all the things I can’t</div>
<div class="line">control. Flood insurance</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">more retro than Noah going off</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">the grid. Grandpa’s vintage</div>
<div class="line">porno stash but a conflagration on VHS</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">no one can bear to watch.</div>
<p style="text-align: right;"><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/LiuIndemnity.mp3"></audio></figure>

The Elders

Poets Respond 

Jimsonweed

Indemnity

<div class="body-text">Scattered across the islands of the Galápagos archipelago there are half a dozen species of lizard that rely upon a method of communication comprised of what can only be called “push-ups.” When one lizard encounters another, each takes its turn bobbing head and torso up and down in a complex and jerky system of frantic interaction. By this means, lizards of each species establish territorial authority, reinforce social hierarchies, even engage in mating rituals.</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="body-text">It appears that these lizards evolved from a single species settling the islands from the mainland some 34 million years ago in what scientists have identified as two major waves of colonization. A small “Eastern Radiation” left two species endemic to San Cristóbal and Marchena, while the majority of lizards have come to inhabit the southern and western islands, spreading over time to the younger islands as the older were transported eastward, eventually eroding below sea level.</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="body-text">Each species has developed its own particular vocabulary, its own dialect of body language, to such an extent that each species might be said to “speak a different language.” Suffice it to say, when a lizard from one species encounters a lizard from another, bobbing head and torso up and down in a complex and jerky attempt at frantic interaction, try as they might they cannot understand each other. Lizards from one island are consequently unable to interbreed with lizards from another island. Without communication, it appears, there can be no intercourse.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/SheltonLiuBabel.mp3"></audio></figure>

Who Breathed in Binders

While Taking a Nap, the Invisible Stenographer Dreams She Can Play the Violin

Babel

<div class="line">Do they serve</div>
<div class="line">turkey in Turkey</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">is a question</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">no one asks</div>
<div class="line">on the highway</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">out of Raqqa—</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/LiuWithdrawal.mp3"></audio></figure>

My Gift Is the Sculpture

Poets Respond

An Abecedarian for the Unmentionable

Withdrawal

<div class="line">Seems my tears are good</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">for nothing but to salt</div>
<div class="line">corn on the cob the hired</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">help shucks to get me</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">thinking about something</div>
<div class="line">other than that porn star</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">one-hundred-thirty-thousand</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">dollars richer for keeping</div>
<div class="line">her mouth shut both during</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">and after my husband</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">sodomized her right after</div>
<div class="line">we were married. You too?</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">I’m not immune to feeling</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">shame. I don’t wear black</div>
<div class="line">tonight not because I don’t</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">identify in some small way</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">with the rest of you—no!—</div>
<div class="line">but I too am a Dreamer</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">decked out in a Christian</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Dior cream-colored suit,</div>
<div class="line">my Dolce Gabbana blouse</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">a nod to humbled privilege</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">just South of the Tyrol</div>
<div class="line">where no one could ever</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">imagine building a wall</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">let alone asking the public</div>
<div class="line">to pay for it! He promises</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">unity yet sows discord!</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">What exactly does the meme</div>
<div class="line">of a North Korean refugee</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">holding up a crutch mean</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">in the middle of a speech</div>
<div class="line">no one will remember by</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">morning when everyone</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">opens their phones to scores</div>
<div class="line">of fact-checked lies as he</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">tweets more fake news to his</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">37% approval-rated base?</div>
<div class="line">Fuck Davos! I’m getting used</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">to taking a separate car</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">on that short journey from</div>
<div class="line">here to wherever I’ve never</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">been able to quite call home …</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Of course the Chinese see me</div>
<div class="line">gussied up as an angel of death—</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">raccoon-eyed and diaphanous</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">under heavy pomade and</div>
<div class="line">camouflage, hovering here</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">in the balcony like a helicopter</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">straight out of <em>Apocalypse Now</em>—</div>
<div class="line">blasting some inaudible tune</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">with no safe place to land.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/LiuUnion.mp3"></audio></figure>

Harping

Slateku

State of the Union

<div class="line">Do I have to</div>
<div class="line">comfort you,</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">little ones?</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">The cancer</div>
<div class="line">has spread</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">deep into</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the country,</div>
<div class="line">even beyond</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the outlying</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">provinces.</div>
<div class="line">The Christian</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">god won&#8217;t bring</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">back coal.</div>
<div class="line">And don&#8217;t you</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">think the air</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">is too full of it</div>
<div class="line">already? You</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">can&#8217;t fight</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the lower</div>
<div class="line">wages across</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the border,</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">and besides</div>
<div class="line">this will mean</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">others will</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">have more</div>
<div class="line">reasons to stay</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">on their own</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">side where we</div>
<div class="line">know they</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">have always</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">belonged. Fear</div>
<div class="line">not. This</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">is how we make</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">America great</div>
<div class="line">again as, one</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">by one, million</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">dollar mansions</div>
<div class="line">crumble into</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">an unforgiving</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">sea, not one</div>
<div class="line">then, but two</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Americas</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">as the borders</div>
<div class="line">that have</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">been drawn</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">start to redraw</div>
<div class="line">themselves</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">again, can&#8217;t</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">you smell</div>
<div class="line">the fear inside</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">their blood</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">just before</div>
<div class="line">it&#8217;s shed?</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">The pipeline</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">will not</div>
<div class="line">go through,</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">not if</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">any of us</div>
<div class="line">can help it.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Goddamn</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the buffalo</div>
<div class="line">gathered on</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the horizon</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">if they aren&#8217;t</div>
<div class="line">ready to</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">stampede</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">for they know</div>
<div class="line">which side</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">we&#8217;re taking,</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">water cannon</div>
<div class="line">fire be</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">damned,</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">concussion</div>
<div class="line">grenades</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">be damned—</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">lobbed across</div>
<div class="line">lands we hold</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">most sacred.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">A man without</div>
<div class="line">a soul-friend</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">is like a lake</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">no good</div>
<div class="line">for bathing</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">nor drinking</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">so fear not,</div>
<div class="line">little ones,</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">the ancestors</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">won&#8217;t leave us</div>
<div class="line">the same way</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">shit jobs</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">have already</div>
<div class="line">left them</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">holding on</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">to nothing</div>
<div class="line">more than</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">a tiny</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">scorched</div>
<div class="line">tract of earth</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">called home.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/LiuSong.mp3"></audio></figure>

Job Security

Allegheny Valley, Exit 48

Protest Song

<div class="line"><i>Blind Date</i></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Scrabble tiles spilled</div>
<div class="line">across the bedroom floor—</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">no one keeping score.</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="line"><i>During One of Mahler’s Endless Adagios</i></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">The crinkled crackling</div>
<div class="line">of a lozenge being unwrapped</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">followed by a yawn—</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="line"><i>The Honeymoon</i></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">My body is not</div>
<div class="line">Afghanistan so perhaps</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">it’s time you pull out.</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="line"><i>Occupied</i></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">when he unzipped</div>
<div class="line">to display his sizable</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">stimulus package—</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div class="line"><i>Spring Is Here</i></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">With cherry blossoms</div>
<div class="line">swirling again around us—</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">stop talking so much!</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/LiuSenryu.mp3"></audio></figure><p></p>

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May 27, 2015Five SenryūTimothy Liu

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May 27, 2015Five SenryūTimothy Liu

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