Someone else says, Drag queens are a drag, divas a dime a 
dozen. Have you ever tried to hug 
a cartoon character? Paint smears, pixels
pixelate. Something pops, nothing deflates. 

Cart before the horse, they ascended;  
they soon turned back. Obviously, the world
had disappeared. The wind blew it away.   
What the fuck is this darkness, she asked. 

Why does anyone watch these award shows, 
I asked. We weren’t even in the same room. 
Do you say pop star, or soda star, or
Coke star? Depends on where you grew up. 

No one grows up, but everyone ages. 
The film was not made for television. 
Where inside ones & zeroes do you find
persistence of vision? The lamps are full,

but refuse to light. Nietzsche throws his arms
around Whitney Houston’s neck, sobbing. 
Someone else says, I broke rule number one:
no one gets hurt. A prayer, mistaken. 

I’m not making myself clear, but opaque. 
Idols, false or not; intimacy, true 
or not. When she sings, she sings to you,
you alone, alone like everyone else. 

She hits a high note. She never can stop. 
The film was brilliant but for that last shot. 
Hearts fade to guilt, for guilt’s the new black.  
The horse’s black eyes say Darkness, that’s what. 

He wins this category by a neck.