from Can Sam Run Out
by Stella Corso

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can Sam run out            Sam slumped
            at the wheel, Sam swerved
                        into the servo,
motor               circus               station,
            radio control
                                    hobby        and him
nerves, nerves               wires
            parts under the lid, lights
on the dashboard                        stuff under
            the hem.                        Scorcho
says,                 two smokes he ran out
            already.

can Sam run out            instructor for
            the simulator,               a tall            
order    a small              glass of water
            lump    sum       bonus  breach
           
a very bad tan               your number
                        one fan             gone
            all mahogany
                                    Be nice
to Sam-            it’s not too late
            to give              him a prize.

can Sam run out            Sam, semaphore
            of emblems, an epaulet
on your shoulder, a sifting of the brains

an emulet, a grain of rice, a little bit
                                          of RAM
            epigraph, epitaph, a little long
in the jaw
                        an amalgamation
an existential
            dilemma, a bomb            a song.

can Sam run out            Sam hitched to a spit-
            fire            Sam glued to the cellar
door           
                                    Sam reduced
to function            the descending           
                            of a leaf, a dime            a pile
of strange motifs                        the things
            he likes,            the things
you don’t
            dolma, dolma                 calendula
                        mum’s the word.