The Cento for February 7, 2023

Cento

Make Sure You Adjust Your Tension

Pinky hooked around pinky,
crab claw clasp,
the well is invisible.
That’s why its presence
weighs on the nerves

Pry open the long crease where shame settles.
You must not wish for any other life.
I smile as the cocaine takes effect

The saxophone no longer sounds like a sax.
The singularity of my existence brings clarity.
I give it jagged edges, ruffles, grooves,
sputtering and gasping and roaring back to life

During every First Tuesdays open mic, we communally compose a cento using language taken from each open-mic reader’s offering. This cento is composed of lines from the work of: David Siller, Henry Sussman, Andrew Dick, Scott Bankert, Richard Jeffrey Newman