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CON&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;MEN


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&nbsp;


We count


&nbsp;


completion of&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; duties


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;you will be expected


All&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; are expected


months


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; must


sign&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;your acceptance


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;and&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;your&nbsp;status&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;at will


&nbsp;


&nbsp;


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&nbsp;


&nbsp;


FRIDAY / I try to feel what I think / This feeling will feel / Like but I can&rsquo;t / I don&rsquo;t know how it will supposed to feel / It could be enchantment / To quit / The feeling of repetition for creativity / Of having done this before / Or the imprudence of grasping at nothing / A less invisible nerve / There will have been countless last days in me by then / Fantasies about not going back / The deer carcass finally disappeared / Where 124 meets 78 this morning / Every morning since the winter / Why no one has cleaned it yet /&nbsp; Or if there&rsquo;s cleaning for the dead bodies at all / Is part of an inherent, scientific logic / A contradiction / I feel within myself / I know I will feel tomorrow / Slightly foolish for trying to anticipate my own feelings


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&nbsp;


&nbsp;


&nbsp;


&nbsp;


In Kyiv they lived


the middle of the night


on brown bread


and butter they ate


cucumbers and tomatoes


with sunflower oil and pink salt


this was Kyiv


they&rsquo;d already eaten somewhere


else but were so hungry


sometimes it would be fast


but lately it had been simple


food from the kitchen without having


to go out in the dark


and snow for what


was still at the table


he&rsquo;d eat and smoke


she&rsquo;d pace and make hot shapes


with her body in her mouth


she&rsquo;d put food and look


at them in the hallway mirror


he looked like Rodin&rsquo;s sculpture


Soviet thoughts in sadness


she didn&rsquo;t think she should


return from someone that sad


having little to do with the philosophical


he was a painter


who returned to his hometown


given money and time


this was his assignment


this is what we want


but art is never as essential


as we alone would like


to think and be


it&rsquo;s been so hard here


to do anything to get anywhere 


no work but more work


I don&rsquo;t need myself


I already am me


I don&rsquo;t need any more 


lessons in humility


just you 


just you


she felt it exactly


having not written anything


or thought to in months


but love was taking turns


affecting a rock


but look at all you&rsquo;ve been


just you 


just you


or as he said


you be me


I be you


that&rsquo;s love


once a month they had said


no months would pass without


and so they hadn&rsquo;t


the flat was tall and old and cold


a small tree blinked


day and night


do you like our tree do you


she&rsquo;d never cared about trees before


or this one just that


it resided there because he did


they&rsquo;d projected so much


on the projector he never got


to use for murals


actors on blank walls


the same for their silence


the same for their talking


them of themselves


they&rsquo;d close their eyes


and bite in perfect clarity


when they had the energy


they kept on


disagreeing and agreeing


about white governments


and Trotsky


one time they read


one time they went to the ballet


once she tried to poem him


once he sketched her


you have so much pose


because I&rsquo;m trying so hard 


after she&rsquo;d become nauseous


she wasn&rsquo;t used


to so much swallowing


are you going to come


come for me


yes


yes


what if I said I wasn&rsquo;t in love with you what if &ndash;


that&rsquo;s for you to decide


in a voice different from their own


they blushed


you know I would never


do any of this if it weren&rsquo;t for you


I promise not to bore you


and she knew


this truth to be true


his simplicity


the simplicity


of a kind of life


of the kind of vulnerability


she always wanted surprised her

Vanessa Jimenez Gabb

from Basic Needs