daughter, you reached
your age
and your brother
reached his-

instead of kissing
a nearby head
I became
a kind of writing, a television

inside of which
a cigarette
signaled

to someone
I couldn’t place

that he or she
return
the bar

of soap, the short

life-

I bathed whatever creature
you could get
your hands on

whether it be
your brother

or not, before

or after
abuse-

I beheaded the parents
of thoughtless

children
in this
I was early