is not as cruel as schrödinger's ::
and cannot be refuted :: by
exhumation :: beside the point
is the point :: that cat had to die
somewhere :: she won't dig it up ::
just to scan infrared :: its box
coffin could be coated in lead ::
even radium won't minimize
threat :: what's half-life exposed
to gamma wave :: if persephone
strays :: despite warnings :: why
would she obey when downside’s
warmer :: think what you prefer ::
she won't choose hades or mother
she can pick out red lights,
motorbikes :: but is stuck
on ze and they when she's
told to choose her pronouns ::
she's excited by the range,
but allows that age attracts
enough suspicion once her
wrinkles start to fade ::
gossips scan her cart at
check out :: is that retinol ::
dna :: the blood of virgins,
strained :: bottled botulism ::
does the throbbing in her fore-
head come from filament or vein
she remembers swooning :: back
when serious meant being touched ::
when confidence took :: trust, not
con :: the anhedonic can't be taught
to feel by coddling :: photos alone
do not establish alibi anymore than
time stamp :: if what she meant
is not confirmed by bias, how can
she tell a stalker from admirer ::
she might as well pull petals off
a flower :: as expect her pulse to
out-pace hour :: commitment
is just another contronym :: like
sanguine, temper, and asylum
although she is no suffragette :: she cannot
vote for being dead :: no matter what
the rights or lefts accuse :: news bemuses
with all its strangeness :: the red-
polls heckling from bushes :: the blue
scrubs prepare for storm :: she's
more or less okay except for laryngitis
that will not go away any more
than indignation or lacerated fingers ::
she's knitting stays :: afraid of
execution :: of spite-laid plans ::
charcuterie requiring sutures ::
the taste of blood :: of being led
by those who would remove her
regardless of newbie status, she's
capable of recognizing virtuality
without assistance :: head gear
loosens nape knot to let the night
in :: who is she to disregard body's
precarity, to pretend hum cannot
be felt from thumb to elbow ::
she knows the crackle tone
rotation :: the jump-scare flare
of nerve impingement :: does
not need haptic notification
from 8-bit troll to know she’s
dead again :: staccato fills
the hollows in her bone