polonius is alive, fortinbras is alive, king hamletis smearing on beard oil             still buttressing the worldwhen i find ophelia bored as shit floating                on her back in the apartment complex pool.her nose is tinging red                            & her hair’s a sunburst& i’m like, where’d you get your swimsuit? i’ve beenlooking for one with flowers but they’re all tacky dayglow.she’s all, ugh that means a lot my boyfriend’s being a total                drag today          & no one’s stabbed anyone yetor feigned madness — it’s normal boy stuff                            like he clogged her garbage disposal.in this world ophelia finds the perfect Bible study group                & starts painting her toenails emerald                            & i tell her how the first girl i lovedmarried a cop last april & the last girl i lovedwas a sagittarius you know what i mean.in this world we take fencing lessons at the y& talk about ghosts like             maybe they don’t existi guess today i’m bitter about the separate worldswe really got. my mind keeps ambling back                to [amy coney barrett]i’m scared i want to write a happy poem. about flowers.about me and ophelia buzzing our hair                & screaming down backroads to mannequin pussy.we’re hanging our heads out the windows we will nevercrash the car                the muggy air curtsies all around us.but i can’t stop meeting ophelia. i can’t stop meeting                her. every violet here withers.