Poem

Escape Artist

/ /

No padlock. No pick tucked in your left cheek. No chain a foot thick from ankle to neck. No straitjacket self- love self- hug. No gag. No Hudson River shiver shiver dragged below by a bag of bricks.

None of that for you, Houdini.

Only your skin to writhe against, to weigh you down.

Escape it if you can.

Before you drown—