As/Is







6.25.2004


To the new, fresh tattoo of a cod underneath my right arm

we'll name him
greg.
that was the artist's name, clever blank-faced
man buzzing away into
my girl's skin we were
doing this together, you know,
a fish

and a bird only I hope
I'm not the only one referencing some
far part of the US when

people ask - as they do you
tattoo yourself into the public
they'll always ask
- why

is there a cod tattooed beneath
your arm?

fish and
bird fish and
bird they fell in
love but

you cannot live in the ocean
and I cannot live in the sky.

I like cod and
my girl
likes swallows.