John William Corrington



                  on my 18th birthday


this is the sum of it:
                              what i can expect
                              from bones has
                              succinctly arrived
      skin has done its
                              part

time of gratuities is ending:
      tony's sister will ask
      for a fin: free juice is
      memory; a lump of boy
      is snuffling in my
      throat

birthday
            ends a barefoot deluge
            of
            interminable dry runs:
   the next rap could be scary and adult; the
      next misstep may draw
      some of my wonderful
      blood

my analyst
      a black barber who sips
      adrenalin
      and barbecues like a god
                              gave me a slip of paper
                              tied with some dental
                              floss:
      for birthday

      it said
              —you must have learned
                  you can eat almost anything
                        and almost everything
                        will certainly try to
                  eat you
                        this is for the winner
                        to clean his teeth

      from now on a haircut is six bits


John William Corrington, Collected Poems, CreateSpace Independent
Publishing Platform, 2013.