simplify life (a homed heart)

by Samantha Duncan

what if a machine
could water our plants
sing our child to sleep

travel to ‘96 and say
the shitty thing
to the boy who said
the shitty thing first

what a time to transfer
our makeup to another’s
pillowcase

after dinner and three episodes
and protest signs made
with a shared pack of sharpies

how we crotchet
into each other
without promise
of a sequel

a growth of horns
and dusks to death

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Samantha Duncan is the author of four poetry chapbooks, including Playing One on TV (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2018) and The Birth Creatures (Agape Editions, 2016), and her work has appeared in BOAAT, SWWIM, Kissing Dynamite, Meridian, and The Pinch. She lives in Houston.