Randall Mann’s newest collection, Proprietary, is forthcoming from Persea Books in May. He is a frequent contributor to The Rumpus and lives in San Francisco.
***
Break
At the Grab & Go
I learned
to skirt scandal.
It’s only work-
place violence
if I leave my mark.
I took a pill; I lied.
Randall, don’t.
Do not bribe her,
the hot intern,
a doughnut
dusted with ricin.
Trashy afternoons
in Borgo Grappa:
I miss eucalyptus,
vampires, buffaloes.
And the trek
back to Rome,
all that ration-
alist architecture.
Break,
let me make
up with you.
Let’s cruise
the Ponte Milvio,
wrap a chain
around a lamppost,
lock it, and toss
the key into the Tiber.
