#scott ramsay

“Sundy Praia,” São Tomé e Príncipe, Africa

This is the story of my adoption, and how it happened.

I hope you’ll like it.

Today

  morning,

you’re in the kitchen drinking from a Petri dish

mumbling something about time being of the essence

while your dog at your feet excitedly laps up

what you spill

  afternoon,

you’re in the jacuzzi after lunch

with hot dogs floating all around you,

your two fingers point to the sky

and shoot down animal-shaped clouds

until they bleed drops of water

  evening,

you’re heading towards an Ethiopian restaurant

with the anchor tattoo on your fist dragging on the ground

with “it’s hard being a teenage vegan” written on your shirt

the letters stretch over the contours of your belly

  night,

you’re under the covers holding a flashlight

with the Sears catalogue in the spotlight

and the universe outside the window

slightly folding in like the dimple on the cheek of god

  writer,

I am a nurse chasing this childish poem

around the room with a needle

I will sedate it and fix it