JACOB SEFERIAN

Such Lookers! Such Thinkers!

In the image of a self-checkout
camera I figure intense beauty
must feel like a prison, but me
I am from a lineage of men who
get fatter as they age: No fear!

Doc, I have this spiritual exhaustion
got all the WebMD symptoms like
uninventive lovers and Applebee’s
plus my heels have calluses that
never heal and turn cirrhosis yellow

which is why I was at CVS catching
my reflection while I steal foot masks
see, Doc, I am clearly sick. I’ll take
Klonies or maybe a few Oxy, politics
aside, a kiss won’t do it. I want to be

bold like this old guy I slept with once
awakened by his roommate shouting
for rent, then my lover pissed blood
which I insisted on seeing for myself
and, oh yes, the stream was bright red.

Jacob Seferian is a writer in NYC. His work has appeared in several magazines, online and in print.