On the many things I do not understand
He speaks of a passion, strange and wonderful
I think of Joanie Vollmer
I study her death beside Tupac’s and Cobain’s
I wonder at the precise size
of the hole in her forehead
I think of writing, this attempt to force others
to spend a moment with the thoughts I think every day
He tells me that he caught the literary bug at a young age
That’s good, I tell him
Better that
than for it to catch you…
—Jonathan Penton