IN THE SAUNA

i am in the sauna 
and right now 
there is nothing else i need to do 

watch 
the older guy 
play his tetris-like game 
watch the pink and red blocks 
combine and disappear 

the sweat gathering 
on my rolls of yellow fat 
glistening together in beads 
like tiny civilizations 
slow decline 
onto bending wood 

listen 
to the representatives of gen z 
talk about the awful men they know 
from online 
their misdemeanor crimes 

most of all 
just pay attention 
you can close your eyes 
the air is something you can touch 
and you can pay 
the kind of attention that needs to be paid 

SOMETHING ABOUT FISH

the lazy wires 
of the fisher people gathered 
on the train bridge 
brushing the water 
smelling phosphorus 
and other 
agricultural runoff 

the fish in
the chef’s choice special 
at muramoto 
the soft resistance of the 
salmon, avocado 

the smooth green fish 
we pulled up 
from barely under the surface 
the feeling of sunburn 
during my cast 
the north carolinian cattle 
pass, and shit in the water 

the animatronic talking fish 
that everyone knew was hilarious 
the animals that looked like fish 
but were not fish 

and especially 
the glowing fish, deep 
the fish whose personality i understand 
in the secretest place 
the place that no one owns 
the place where everyone is allowed 

Greg Zorko was born in 1990 in upstate New York. He currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin. He is the author of Ghost in the Club (Metatron Press, 2016) and Chirp (Ursus Americanus Press, 2018).