Render, Render

    Boil it down： feet， skin， gristle，

    bones， vertebrae， heart muscle， boil

    it down， skim， and boil

    again， dreams， history， add them and boil

    again， boil and skim

    in closed cauldrons， boil your horse， his hooves，

    the runned-over dog you loved， the girl

    by the pencil sharpener

    who looked at you， looked away，

    boil that for hours， render it

    down， take more from the top as more settles to the bottom，

    the heavier， the denser²， throw in ache

    and sperm³， and a bead⁴

    of sweat that slid from your armpit to your waist

    as you sat stiff-backed before a test， turn up

    the fire， boil and skim， boil

    some more， add a fever

    and the virus that blinded an eye， now's the time

    to add guilt⁵ and fear， throw

    logs on the fire， coal， gasoline， throw

    two goldfish in the pot （their swim bladders

    used for "clearing"）， boil and boil， render

    it down and distill⁶，

    concentrate that for which there is no

    other use at all， boil it down， down，

    then stir it with rosewater，

    that which is now one dense¹， fatty， scented⁷ red essence

    which you smear⁸ on your lips and go forth⁹

    to plant as many kisses upon the world

    as the world can bear！