I’m going to be your first real boyfriend

I’m going to show you the meaning of suffering

I’m going to show you how to love another man

How to shower him with love and urine

I’m going to be your first real love

I’m going to break your shell by breaking my shell on your shell

I’m going to chisel away at that monster

I’m going to make rage funny

Your boyfriend will frown

I’m going to attack you with patience and imagination

For every thing I say, there are ten things I don’t say

I’m going to torture you with the knowledge that I think you’re worthy of a robust love

For every thing I write, there are hidden cities of animals living in complex, yet unaware systems of bunkers under domestic objects, mating and killing

I’m going to show you the meaning of romance

I don’t know the meaning of romance

That is romance

Your boyfriend will write to you in a conversational tone he doesn’t think of as poetry

I’m going to be your first real engagement with poetry

I’m going to show you how to make a world that isn’t a Walt Disney World, or a World of Warcraft

I’m going to show you how to let loose and be fun and social

I’m not going to do that

Your boyfriend will neither lie nor cheat

Your first real boyfriend

I’m going to be your father and your son at the same time

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ARTWORK COURTESY OF STEVE STEVENS