F. Scott

Diane Seuss

I hate watching men

on TV chase women in order

to kill them.

The women all seem

to be marathon

runners but still the men catch them

and kill them. Never

do these women have meat

on their bones. They’re designed

like axe handles. The men

can be allergists, animal trainers, armored

truck drivers, aromatherapists, I could

go through the whole alphabet;

they can be otters or body

builders, teenagers,

octogenarians, brothers,

husbands,

or strangers, they could be F.

Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Frost, Clyde Fitch,

who’s heard

of Clyde Fitch?

It doesn’t matter

what great act of literature

they have committed. They catch

you. They kill you. I hate

watching it but I

watch it.

Diane Seuss is the author of frank: sonnets (2021), winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and Modern Poetry (2024).
Originally published:
February 28, 2024

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