Sarah Mangold’s first book, Household Mechanics, was winner of the New Issues First Book Prize selected by C.D. Wright. Her poetry has recently appeared in magazines including Ribot, Fourteen Hills, Transfer, Tinfish and Outlet. She currently lives in Seattle. Ecstatic Turtlenecks Luckily enough recently and across the street the word perpetual but I trust her leaving the conservatory empty brackets and access roads singular nature of her chords bear claws play the whole sonata and play it well will get you as far as you’d be the keyboard and thank you every fourth day every third day bit or anchor eight pound cleat in your shoes when it arrived review the marriage out of the way close the book and let’s say far reaching do you think suspect potatoes put in imperfection or laceration translations to her work closet onion eater accusing him of codes I was the worst scientist Story I. since he was a baby a small amount of money its strange lips appears on the porch one box to another to put it bluntly a beautiful idea the interesting question it somehow does now they wonder what putting on a brave face head in the cake to trace an account that her father what was needed but you never know II. The roots of her obsession He seemed grateful She smoked while she talked The truth from me Some of this stuff We want to know There will be no winners Capable of deep love He was right, of course When, for example, I earnestly asked Stay like that Consciously changing nothing Being a star student Halfway House I recognize the dangers Italian shoes and a British suit throw away relationships organized and armed I had no idea Then there was Ed himself we grinned nervously at our table exposing bathtub rings magnificent income huge hot pastrami sandwiches or tomato soup how close they are the steps are small Consider the damage done by purple sound of money being burned their prerecorded existence hand-sewn luggage Say the choice were made possessing only the vaguest notion to twirl one's fingers but because we have grown so breathlessly is an official language cured or suppressed the electricity they need brought the house down yearn for a period in history when people say to themselves We must act now there's a nonstop demand driving west until the road turned uncertain highway we have been led to believe I previously had been blind