Wet Work

By Robert Beveridge

So many contracts,
and lawyers to enforce them.
Time is nothing—no, less.
All that matters
is the position, the last kiss,
a good scrub of the hands
when done. Surgeons
are better paid in coin,
but derive less satisfaction.

Robert Beveridge (he/him) makes noise (xterminal.bandcamp.com) and writes poetry on unceded Mingo land (Akron, OH). He published his first poem in a non-vanity/non-school publication in November 1988, and it’s been all downhill since. Recent/upcoming appearances in Modern Haiku, WestWard Quarterly, and I-70 Review, among others.