[prologue]
  after c. dylan basset

i take to wine some nights like a boy to violence. everyone wants what they want without question. me? i want to get dangerous. have my little premonitions, ripe persimmons, no regrets. once i dreamt where the doll first held humiliation. too bad about the party, i cannot shut the fuck up, stand for stolen valor, the smell of gunpowder, to look at my own face but look. i get math. out of spite, i spill its guts.

eat this, i say & lend you my ear.