Permanent Address

Gnats fly

From the garbage disposal.

I know them.

Pour bleach down the drain.

Let it sit.

That’ll kill them

Mom says from the couch.

Hesitate

Then little splashes against the hole.

Even the poison feels the weight

Of the end in the tipping.

Needles in my nose

Pricking at my brain

Shallow breaths

Between flossed teeth

Do you hear that?

Gnats fainting, fading

Black specks in a black hole

I know them still.

I flew once.

Do you feel that?

Unmoving and quiet

Stuck here

At the bottom of the garbage disposal

Grounded.