6.27.17
i touched my face
after cutting serrano
peppers
.
they sear my face
phytotoxins–
.
pain so intense
i must contort my entire
body to mitigate it
.
sliver of light:
as long as my face burns
as long as the burn spreads
all my other pains erase
.
i have learned
the medicine for pain
is other pain,
that hurts must be transferred
from one point to another
constantly
so that no one part of you
suffers for long.
Written at 12:33 at night, in my office, in Agoura Hills CA, after watching a video of David Foster Wallace explain why the phrase “prior to” is puffed-up, unnecessary, and technically incorrect based on its Latin root.