Day/Poem #4: One of my favorites

OK, so all of the poems I'm going to post here are some of my favorites -- or else I wouldn't be posting them. But, this is one I return to again and again. I picked up Richard Siken's first book of poetry when I was browsing Kramerbooks, in Dupont Circle, Washington DC a number of years ago. His collection, "Crush," won the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize in 2004. This excerpt strikes me every single time.

From A PRIMER FOR THE SMALL WEIRD LOVES


1
     The blond boy in the red trunks is holding your head underwater
because he is trying to kill you,
               and you deserve it, you do, and you know this,
     because you wanted to touch his hands and lips and this means
                                                         your life is over anyway.
                      You're in the eighth grade. You know these things.
     You know how to ride a dirt bike, and you know how to do
               long division,
and you know that a boy who likes boys is a dead boy, unless
                                    he keeps his mouth shut, which is what you
                                                                                 didn't do,
     because you are weak and hollow and it doesn't matter anymore.

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Go check out the whole poem!