Denise Duhamel

The Threat

my mother pushed my sister out of the apartment door with an empty Suitcase because she kept threatening to run away my sister was sick of me Getting the best of everything the bathrobe

June

The blue forest, chilled and blue, like the lips of the dead If the lips were gone. The year has been cut in half With dull scissors, the solstice still looking for its square

On Being Born The Same Exact Day Of The Same Exact Year As Boy George

We must have clamored for the same mother, hurried for the same womb. I know it now as I read that my birthday is his. Since the first time I saw his picture, I

Ai

There is a chimp named Ai who can count to five. There’s a poet named Ai whose selected poems Vice Just won the National Book Award. The name “Ai” is pronounced “I” So that

Sex With A Famous Poet

I had sex with a famous poet last night And when I rolled over and found myself beside him I shuddered Because I was married to someone else, Because I wasn’t supposed to have

Snow White's Acne

At first she was sure it was just a bit of dried strawberry juice, Or a fleck of her mother’s red nail polish that had flaked off When she’d patted her daughter to sleep

Yes

According to Culture Shock: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette Of Filipinos, when my husband says yes, He could also mean one of the following: A.) I don’t know. B.) If you say so.

They decide to exchange heads. Barbie squeezes the small opening under her chin Over Ken’s bulging neck socket. His wide jaw line jostles Atop his girlfriend’s body, loosely, Like one of those novelty dogs

Buying Stock

“…The use of condoms offers substantial protection, but does not Guarantee total protection and that while There is no evidence that deep kissing has resulted in Transfer of the virus, no one can say

Crater Face

is what we called her. The story was That her father had thrown Drano at her Which was probably true, given the way she slouched Through fifth grade, afraid of the world, recess Especially.

Buddhist Barbie

In the 5th century B. C. An Indian philosopher Gautama teaches “All is emptiness” And “There is no self.” In the 20th century A. D. Barbie agrees, but wonders how a man With such