Three Poems by Mark Szoke

“I am not your dad, small child at the bus stop”

I am not a monster.
I am not hiding
under your bed.
I do not know what
you are thinking right now.
I have never taken pictures
of you while you were asleep.
I do not own a television.
I am not your dad, small child at the bus stop.
I am not thinking about choking you.
I do not want to know
what your blood tastes like.
I am not a monster.
I have never tripped
on a crack in the sidewalk.
I am not your dad, small child at the bus stop.
I have never had a dream
where I was naked in public.

“there must be something wrong with your phone, so I nailed this to your door”

build me a house
put it next to yours
give me a window
that shows me your shower
I would like that
I am happy you are trying to clean yourself
I am happy you are in water
anyway,
do you even read this
are you naked
are you rubbing your parts
against anything
I am here,
use my leg,
I will take off my jeans
they are too coarse for comfort
anyway,
do you have any new favorite things
I check your interests on websites,
I am familiar with how much we have in common
there is a new movie coming out,
I think you’d like it
I could take you
I would like to take you
let me in
let me in
let me in
I’ll only stay a while
I can make myself very small to sleep
if you would like
I make pancakes sometimes
you could have them,
I would give them to you
let me take you
let me in
let me in

“please don’t be mad at me”

I am comparing customer reviews
of electronic toothbrushes on amazon
I am naked and I am shopping
and I am alive
for what may be the first time
I am poking your dad on facebook
over and over
and I am having sex dreams
about your family members
I don’t know
I am making too much eye contact
with your cousin
you shouldn’t have invited me
to your family reunion
I am live-blogging the new episode
of hoarders
and I am thinking about
robbing the convenience store
by your old house.