mistake practice

nerve is a rationing we all chose to
follow suit since i’ve been inside

my house i’ve felt embarrassed to
not make each route i take succinct

stoicism on the trend report i take
a book off a porch i take j to the

tow away sign and she takes a picture
and tells me how to position my legs

in my boots to sleep on the floor i
bring milk and my swimsuit and beer

the last mall pop star performed for
children experimenting with satan

deviance another display of public
interest all of us pretending to be seen

socratic bleeding seminar

first the frost now the shovel noticed i asked a man
to install the door then he didn’t and another man

has a shovel that was mine agreeable men make me
repeat myself like salt in water eats itself until it is

outside of dissolution the year i wanted for nothing
i ate beef and pat my neck for warmth i don’t look

at the clouds for a hint you can make a home out of
anything as long as you keep the world outside i

always want to talk about what’s not and what not
the difference between what can’t help but touch

a form of suppression to mention our palms the
only real lovers i know had to drown their rabbits

in the river by the handful before they were wed but now
they’ve bought a house with room enough for children

caroline ganci patterson is an “ex-suburbanite-revisionist.” poems have appeared in The Yale Review, Foglifter, Allium, and more. their debut manuscript, brat olympics, was a 2025 finalist for the Michael Waters Poetry Prize and Barrow Street Poetry Prize. they intern with Copper Canyon Press and teach an occasional poetry workshop on questions at the Please, Poetry Library. they live in Missoula, Montana. bluesky: @dessertmeat.bsky.social