By Andreas Nussbaumer

Forget everything you know
about contract law and the Chesterfield skink.
Continue to reframe every piece of art
you encounter in the bordello (replace
the last word with imbroglio and ditch
any diction associated with almanacs).
It’s important to hold yourself
to impossible standards. Embrace loved ones
often via ambush—with surprise on your side
you can’t lose. When in doubt
collect your old love letters and
if you don’t have old love letters then spill ink
like it’s milk—level of requitedness is irrelevant,
it’s the exercise itself that matters. Search frantically
for the deed of your house. If you don’t
own a house then buy one now. If you can’t
afford a house then make more money.
If you can’t make more money then get a better job.
If a better job eludes you then enter into organized crime.
I know a guy named Jimmy, he’ll set you right up.
Just tell him I sent you and thank me later.

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Andreas Nussbaumer is a Swiss-Texan poet and visual artist living in New York City. He holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from The New School, and has been awarded honorary mentions in the 2023 Paul Violi Prize and the 91st annual Writer’s Digest writing competition. His work has appeared in In Parentheses.