Joined at the Neck

 

Tantra Bensko

Originally published in The Evergreen Review Issue 116 in 2008.
 
i i i i

how many times can we use the word i i i i

enough that we become other other other,

the old mexican man on the train

who chuckles from time to time

while continually playing his mandolin

with only broken strings

crammed up together

along its neck in a rambunctious bundle,

as he sits so close to me his smell

becomes me, the boldly dissonant sounds resonate

as everyone looks at him annoyed,

and sees me smiling at the beauty--

Implicated!

i other i other i other

plunk plunk plunk smell smell smell