(after Yoshitomo Naro’s “Real One” )

words mean nothing mean
everything when
scissors come out into
a young lady’s upraised hand
slash away words
fashion a world where they belong to her
pull them back with a skull hair clip
drag them along like demon
teddy bears don’t bleed when
cut men
do

Dane Lyn is an educator, poet, and glitter enthusiast with an MFA from Lindenwood University. Find them in Southern California ridding their shoes of sand, loving their partner, playing music too loud, constructing blanket forts, and caring for their menagerie of teens, snakes, lizards, dogs, rabbits, and cats.