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cracked lobes.
    Â 
    Is it selfish to want
the salted & tart?
Head table at the hello
    Â 
    party? Dip. Dab. Drip.
Cracked open, shell
a tumored morning. Gongs.
    Â 
    Leave the checkered neck.
Leave my selfishness.
Let the chokecherry paint,
    Â 
    let it sputter everyone righteous.
Babies sprout from the chili vine.
We are so beautiful in this eeldom.

Tumult
    The kill, the tongue in my throat.
    â€”Mary Wang
    Â 
    After these days dense
with whoops & catcalls,
    Â 
    blizzards of oystered glass
& whippoorwills barking out
    Â 
    oddness, I walk in my sleep.
A murder of intimacies worrying
    Â 
    my throat tarnished. Shackled
to slamming doors, I’ve given myself
    Â 
    wholly to the city’s ragtag
roughness. Dreams of exaltation
    Â 
    line power lines like shooting
decoys. Swabbed for electrocution.
    Â 
    They alternate intrusion.
They alternate blessings.
    Â 
    And each morning, the terrible
biography writes across the sky.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    Thank you thank you thank you to everyone at Macalester College and the creative writing program at the University of Minnesota—flowers and Band-Aids to all of my students, colleagues, and peers. Wang Ping, Diane Glancy, Ray Gonzalez, Rick Barot, David Hernandez, Lisa Glatt, Adam Clay, Casey Golden, Suzanne Rivecca, Matt Henriksen, Mark Conway, and Nick Flynn, thank you for the guidance, doom, and help.
    Â 
    I am also grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts, the Minnesota State Arts Board, SASE/Jerome, Iowa Falls, and Dr. Roberto Heros, for supporting this life.
    Â 
    Forever: I am indebted to the beautiful people at Tin House. Thank you for believing in me, Brenda. Thank you for putting up with me, Meg.
    Â 
    Finally, I owe everything and more to my families (Lemon, McLoone, Dorlac, Garlock, Balizet, and Ariane & Catface) and friends. I love you all.

Copyright © 2006 by Alex Lemon
Introduction © 2006 by Mark Doty
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    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Tin House Books, 2601 NW Thurman St., Portland, OR 97210.
    Â 
    Published by Tin House Books, Portland, Oregon, and New York, New York Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth St., Berkeley, CA 94710, www.pgw.com
    Â 
    eISBN : 978-0-982-50301-0
    First U.S. Edition 2006
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    www.tinhouse.com