Sam Riviere Poems

I know what you're thinking
it's dull unless they're sex dreams
dreams about violent murders
mine are pretty banal
...

she looks out of her
photos let's call her emma
with a mute appeal that might
mean something like 'whenever
...

there is no purer form of advertising
than writing a poem
that's what the monk told me
if I were a conceptual artist
...

Today I stand before you
uncertain of my guilt
of what I am accused
or should say sorry for
...

hi i should like to have the answers
to shall we say certain questions
and to wake up certain of directions
and a levelness of breathing and
...

across the moonscapes of skateparks you are 13 yrs old
& no longer allowed to play with boys / on platform 6
wearing your amazing cape you are not in fact you
but someone else / while I'm a guy who mishears lyrics
...

I dated mostly police.
I hated coastal solace.
In navy posts I flourished.
I inflate the cost of polish.
...

For Sam Donsky
The airport where all movies end:
the scenery's mobile, the people too
(the people want to be moved),
...

I felt suddenly convinced that I had feelings for the wallpaper.
I was especially captivated by its blonde hair and bad dreams.
I had the impression the wallpaper needed longer to properly 
respond.
By the time I left, my affections had produced this abrasion on my cheek.
...

When I'm feeling unsure or upset
I get drunk and give myself a haircut
after midnight in poor light
with the smallest mirror I can come by
...