by John Compton

conversiontherapy

they electroshock

the vowel

until he severs his tongue;

torture y

by cutting his cock off

& laugh at what they call

his mutilated v;

& tie g to a fencepost

& beat him

until his curve is unfurled

side effects to deficiency

no one smells

the rotting

morgue

full of bodies

—the neurologist explains:

nerves

in your nose

remember something dead

& the putrid scent

are their memories

side effects to numbness

my drug of choice

is a ritz cracker.

i take it on my tongue

like a communion wafer

and almost immediately

my body levitates

—dissociates

with my soul

and everything

becomes lucid

and nothing

no longer functions.

sometimes

i partake

in a piece

of steak

to see

if the overdose

will kill

me.

side effects to nightmares

a small box

holds the bones

of my parents.

they burned inside a house.

they slept through alarms

and smoke

suffocated them.

they dreamt

until they died.

the curtains, drawn open,

and sheets, turned to ash,

—their bodies uncovered.

the sun highlighted

their smoldering bodies.

side effects to driving

i drive barefoot

to feel the adrenaline

of the car.

my foot, a weight.

i control this machine

with a slight push.

i accelerate

until the trees smear

into disfigured monsters,

barns grow mouths,

houses roll until they become debris.

i watch a flock of birds

turn into streaks.

their bodies rip across the sky.

the hills come at me.

i do not wait.

the vehicles

are chess pieces

moving along the road.

i must take out their king.

BIO: john compton (b. 1987), author of 17 books/chapbooks, is a gay poet/writer who lives in kentucky with his husband josh and their dogs and cats, and mice. his latest full length book is my husband holds my hand because i may drift away & be lost forever in the vortex of a crowded store published with Flowersong Press (dec 2024); his latest chapbook is melancholy arcadia published with Harbor Editions (april 2024). he has been published in ONE ART more times then he has fingers on one hand. you can find his books, some poems and other things here: https://linktr.ee/poetjohncompton

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