Finding the Perfect Domain Name

There was a name for us
and we thought it should be
dreamsofsoup.

We thought it should be
desertsnow coldonthelips,
acupfulloftape washingdelicious for duckingthetab.

We thought it should openyourdice,
ournameonawetwindow,
edenicobligatto,

a name that listens to you
so that the narrownessofyou
might spread open to this name: eargoggles,

the fruitofcobwebs, spiderconchita, tienehambre, eyeeyeeye,
the musicofathumbnail againstaleatherbelt,
the flickercinema, maninthecastironpolo, forensicunicycle,

the careful navigationofthesternum
who doesn’t want to unlock,
waiting for the opentsunami,

hokumpokeus, something that wants you to have power over us,
for whom your lonelychantedspell is a warmingnest,
carolhive, vertiginousglue, nursingstone.

How we wish for this missingpiece,
this blacktiara, diamondfeckless to crownourmeaning,
to disownintentions, captivatethetendrils:

shamandentate, nicebreaker, lasercandelabra,
ministrel, pastorel, handheldhistorionica,
byeline.

From the French Directions for Assembling a Wheelbarrow

You will suffer the delusion
that you are merely restoring

an object to wholeness.
This cannot be avoided.

Your mind, your language, is
helplessly programmed for assembly.

If you resist the impulse today,
it will only be a temporary reprieve

for an axle condemned to the wheel,
a brace coerced to brace

where holes align. You cannot resist
pieces in the face of togetherness.

When you finally give in, don’t forget
to tighten the screws.

Donald Zirilli is a Healthcare IT manager with an English Literature BA from Drew University. He was the editor of Now Culture, the art editor of The Shit Creek Review, and remains a Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow Gang Member. His poetry was published in The 2River View, Anti- poetry magazine, ART TIMES, Nerve Lantern, River Styx, and other periodicals and anthologies. He and his wife live in an idyllic corner of New Jersey with two dogs and two cats. His chapbook, Heaven’s Not For You, was published in September, 2018, by Kelsay Books.