Sloppy:

By Jake Price

like someone taking swimming lessons as an adult,  

limbs cutting through water like a machete, still unsure  

if they are finally too old to drown, smiles cramping  

up like calves, c’mon already, are we  

supposed to celebrate? / like someone about to lose  

their virginity with a stranger, too polite, too  

much talking, too many expectations to ever really  

be satisfied, kissing someone’s spine for the  

first time, is this really it? / like someone  

washing the floor of a McDonalds to wrap up 

 a ten-hour shift, a bucket full of cold filth suds 

 and a bent mop handle, a neglected nugget stomped into 

 the tile floor gets kicked under a counter, fuck that,  

more importantly, how do you wash the smell of french fries  

out of your hair?