Tao Lin

notice how my forehead approaches you at a high speed notice the contortions on my face; hear and feel the impact of my forehead against your eyebrow never get angry if someone doesn’t do things for you react to disappointment by being quiet and nice and alone, not by being confrontational or frustrated in 1952 a DSM copy-editor removed ‘headbutting’ from the entry for ‘psychopathic behavior’ thereafter the headbutt has thrived across all social, political, and elementary school gym classes today the headbutt is a sign of friendship, stability, and inner calm the exponential effect of your repeated lies makes me afraid what will happen to us; ‘the perfect headbutt’ destroys both participants and impresses even the severely disillusioned, and the phrase ‘giant poem’ reverberates through my head with the austerity of ancient ruins, the off-centered beauty of repressed veganism, and the lord of the rings trilogy I forgot what this poem was about

in the evening the hamster sits at the computer watermelon juice and coffee sit by the computer the hamster drinks all of the coffee after a few minutes the hamster drinks all of the watermelon juice the hamster lays its paw atop a neatly folded to-do list; this is a resourceful hamster with a strong will, a sincere and loving hamster friend, and a confident nature we do not need to spend any more time or empathy on this hamster

in florida a giant hamster lays in bed worrying about its future the hamster has bad eyesight and many other problems later that night the hamster drives its car around listening to sad music; the master lightly drums its paws on the steering wheel the hamster is alone but not for long: at home three waffle friends wait cooling inside a countertop oven in the kitchen