stickman review

Peroxide, USA

by Jon Riccio

When did chaos come sanitizer-flavored?

Reasoning with germs,
I’ve learned there’s
no such thing as
an aloe-proof id,

though I’ve been
imprisoning myself
since God was deadbolt
and a plague of soap.

Listen, one man’s phobia
is another’s trauma on parole,
same as the misdemeanor
for quibbling while

condoned. Still, I’m
hearing marina humor – 
Liberace jokes by men
in upscale restaurants.

They say tolerance
is the manufacturer’s coupon
for antibacterial.
No gratuity,

sipping your conscience
where gay bashing happens
in yachts of three,
a mimicked lisp

barring
the basin fizzle
from weathering
the least sublime.