Despite Reports Curious George Not A Monkey Poem by Rachel Zucker

how the s changes passersby
inside like a fetus makes mother what was
woman
on the local you pass with your express
a human in neon biosuit
that corner of your eye reserved for
tailed afflictions, pale-skinned angels—shudders, flinches

'fever 102° no daycare'
'vomit, day three, no daycare'
meanwhile our thick-waisted planet like a roast-pig basking

puffins and penguins are birds that swim
the seal a torpedo upside down
husband, various complaints, wants sex also
and they are scanning my motherhood

I want to say wait on the front steps but haven't any
want to say get out so I can stare at this wall as I was born to do

but when I say so the machine colors the image a solid
boysenberry
and an ovoid region above my pelvis blinks beige...black...beige...

the technician's completed level of education
makes his diagnosis no more true than the shapes in a balloon are?

lake above canal
grape on a skirtless broom
a letter we'll call 'o-on-i'
penelope over odysseus
cloud and spear