IN THE BACHELOR UNIVERSE

a rose is a rose and is also an intention
and also a power and also an imbalance
a dalliance can be called “rose chasing”
and eating poppies can be called
“having it both ways” also as in “bisexual”
also as in “demi the bisexual chaos demon”
not chasing roses rosy cheeks hand prints
the horrific bisexual couch from ikea
the honorific “the most embarrassing sexuality”
“the sexuality most like carnations which children
often mistake for roses” the sect of the public
that liking public does  
my boyfriend says he would never be on reality tv
i agree he will never be on reality tv

KLONOPIN NAP 

and i awoke feeling babyish 
bashful ready for dinner 
to be brought to me 
one big tit is all i need 
i’m pretty good at explaining 
why i don’t like something 
less good at explicating  
desires but the word of the 
day is gooey. also kinetic 
which is so not me 
i walked home in the rain 
and was soaked like 
a drowned rat and sad 
and missing you know who 
and as i said to zoe upset 
because the best people  
i know regularly want to 
kill themselves and the 
worst people i’ve ever met 
seem so happy all the time  
cruelty looks fun even i 
can see that 

LESS MONEY MORE MONEY THE MOST MONEY

when i was a baby
i had no money

for my fifth birthday
my grandfather gave me 100 dollars

that was the most money
i thought that was the most money
that existed

my grandfather took me to the mall
with all the money

my grandfather took me to the disney store
i spent all the money in the disney world

did you know
there’s a secret clubhouse at disney world? 
you knock on a door and say a password
and it costs 35 thousand dollars a year to be a member

this is the first year i’ve ever made more than 35 thousand dollars

this is the first year i’ve ever made more than 24 thousand dollars

i once broke up with a friend because we disagreed over if
15 thousand dollars is a lot of money

i still think 100 dollars is a lot of money

i will still pick up a dollar off the ground
i don’t know anyone who won’t 

Emily Bark Brown is a poet from Alabama. They received degrees from Wesleyan University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Recent work can be found in HAD, Chicago Review, and Bennington Review. Along with Zoe Tuck, they co-edit Hot Pink Magazine, a poetry venture, at hotpinkmag.com