is that all right yeah, give my gun away when it's loaded

-----

chelsey minnis' poems in poemland may seem spare in that kind of way that might point to easy--but lord no! they are full of depth, density, they move around in one's head a textured presence, they speak with a voice that is straightforward & amp my ears in a way so that they'll stay awhile. it's the desperation in a book that most attracts me, whether living, dying, & then there's the next day in our hands...what we do with that. minnis does a lot.

-----poemland by chelsey minnis-----wave books

This is a cut down chandelier...

And it is like coughing at the piano before you start playing a
terrible waltz...

This past should go away but it never does...

And it is like a swimming pool at the foot of the stairs...

~

You can feel it rumble in your champagne...

And the trophies sliding off the shelves...

Your love coming back to you from the icebergs!...

This is like getting hit with a folding chair

And being held by your braids...

~

I like to live a hard life but I know I shouldn't do it...

I should live an easy life or I am a fool!

The sea-crabs try to cling onto anything.

The crab fishermen don't even want all the crabs...they want
money...

Even though their mustaches are covered with ice...

~

You continue stumbling and you will always continue stumbling...

You aren't progressing and so you have misconduct...

And you start to get excitably depressed...

It's like trying to drink a bottle of champagne in a roadside
bathroom...

While holding on to a handle attached to the wall...

~

This is digging and digging through fur coats looking for a
pistol...

And it's like a bronze ruffle going down your front...

And it's like the torn off sheer nude covering...

This is what should never be pulled out of the fireplace...

~

He was a man with a quality of a baby deer...

It was a "magically hurt" look in the eyes...

He was like a tearstained person

Being gently spray misted with whiskey in a spray-bottle...