francine j. harris

suicide note #3: instructions on the cat


dear landlord,

open the storm windows so he can look down

              into the yard where a young man practices tae kwon do. 
                          he bends

                          like the blades of a helicopter. if i were god
              i would still watch.

                                      breathe
with no screen.


                                       feed him tuna. pet him often. but mostly

let him watch
                          as the kid chops the air with his hands.

                                 he sees me watching him.
                                 he knows i've seen his belt. he knows

              it is salt lapping at the rainwater left over 
through the screen. we are so high up.

                          sometimes cats also have 

vertigo
                                 spinning below us with

                          his stick.
                                 a perfect

                                           bell.

____________________________________________________________________

**So we’re all playing “Would you rather …”, you know like “Would you rather be too short or too tall/Would you rather be half deaf or half blind …”, and this skinny model chic says:**


So. Like. Would you rather be fat? and the room is already cringing….

              … or raped?

And this is how it goes with dumb chicks, right? They rattle on about silly shit 
and don’t even think before they speak. They say the first stupid cluck of a thing 
that comes to their tongues, right?

And everyone is like Oh Jesus.

                     And she goes:                            Well, I mean. Cause like. If you’re fat
                                                                                                       everyone can see it.
                                                                                                                But if you’re raped.
                                                                                     Then it’s only
                                                                                                       on the inside.

and how the room responds – which they do – respond, cause she says:

                     Well?    I mean.    Like.    You have to choose one.

________________________________________________________

francine j. harris is originally from Detroit and has recent work appearing in Rattle, Ploughshares, Hanging Loose, and Meridian. Her first collection, allegiance, was published in the spring of 2012 and reached the number one spot on the national poetry bestseller’s list within a month of publication. She is a Cave Canem and Callaloo fellow, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and received her MFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she lives, teaches and writes.

________________________________________________________

francine j. harris

suicide note #3: instructions on the cat

So we’re all playing “Would you rather …”, you know like “Would you rather be too short or too tall/Would you rather be half deaf or half blind …”, and this skinny model chic says:

Read more work by francine j. harris:

**So we’re all playing “Would you rather …”, you know like “Would you rather be too short or too tall/Would you rather be half deaf or half blind …”, and this skinny model chic says:**