The Paris Review

Water Becomes Water

Water becomes water’s shape in the water, inside the machine we becomethe image of the machine, thein piercing we are pierced by the machine, we must usea defective good to prove we are defective goods, use movement to completethe machine’s deficient movement, use the reality of words and screwsto realize our own reality, become phantoms of order forms or profitto transcend defective goods, and the summer rolls up its black tongue: from inside the machinepeel away the machine as it revolves, from the assembly line separate outthe finger as it returns to my body, from the midst of pain returnto the womb as it gives birth, from dreaming return to the dream, the machine lives inthe sight of iron nails, as we face ourselves in the mirrorall that’s left in the sky is a pure orphaned moon, and the Henan wheatrecognizes Anhui flavors, Dongguan videotapes searchfor Tokyo tastes, plastic tears drip into a basket,the wind unfurls the fall, the women workers start the long climb up the screws’ ladder

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