Читать книгу Calling a Wolf a Wolf - Kaveh Akbar - Страница 16

DRINKAWARE SELF-REPORT

—How many drinks do you have per week?

I drink what I drink lie where I lie I

deserve all the things I desire cocktail

chatter cymbals crashing green pills

which long ago stopped working

which I still carry to trade for

cigarettes or pitchers of Old Style it almost

feels like cheating

—How often during the last year have you found that you were not able to stop drinking once you had started?

I am an ugly boy but it’s a pretty

day everywhere hard blue snow and old

men arguing the facts of a story they

weren’t even born for they hate me I am

the only person here not grieving

—How often during the last year have you had a feeling of guilt or remorse after drinking?

filthy with pride I am standing as ever before watch

me sing through the jaw of a mouse about

the old miracles a crimson robe floating

up from the Gobi

sand into prophet then back into sand

—How often during the last year have you been unable to recall what happened the night before because you had been drinking?

even the river is tired of its slimy brown water there is no end to

wanting pensioners walk around a mall ogling

watches they’ll never buy one collapses

in front of the display case his skin

shimmers with sweat he looks

like a great carp

—Have you or somebody else been injured as a result of your drinking?

under gold

light my

hands look