INVENTIONS

She says, don’t ever ask me where I go--still
last night they asked her
not to go

Then they watch expertly as her smile shamefully
strains through the sieve
of her teeth

And her excuses perform colorful cartwheels
That finish by lashing into perfect
knots inside her

Still last night they ask her not to go and their
voices become bigger and they
Grow better

And they throw words that are as hard and bouncy
Or breakable as things
that hurt

She makes a tall fence of silence and repeats to herself:
monsters should really only scare
themselves

So that by the time the writing gets to the end of the page
the only thing running is
her mouth