Mike Allen

The loop of her embrace
has no beginning.
Radium poison rings her eyes,
her teeth bright and sharp as prisms.
Her kiss wolfs down...

1.
These gouges where glaciers furrowed toward the sea
were smooth-sloped still, ice-muscled, snowbound;
these waves, a salt-waste...

You know he’s the one who made your beloved niece disappear.

He’s come out of his shop now, fussing with gloves that look expensive...

prologue: the pattern

You never imagined you’d be in a place like this again.

Mothers. Fathers. Schoolteachers. Children. All...