Stephen Kampa

AMAZING SELLING POINT

A blend of the finest Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus & Rosemary. Developed according to the legend of the four thieves in 15th century England who used these and other aromatics to protect themselves while robbing plague victims.

                                                      —aromatherapy oil bottle

This proprietary blend of herbs—spearmint, fennel,

shankroot, & ginseng—was steeped to instill an alert

feeling during chill nightlong vigils when waylaymen

waited to ambush the parades of orphans being

transferred between nunneries, & these hand-sharpened knives

benefit from ancient techniques devised to perfect

implements of war that could sliver meat from the bone

more finely than a single-haired brush renders a line,

& this roots-&-spices dry rub—so secret the names

can’t be listed—was refined over generations

to ensure human flesh was not merely edible,

but, well, nummy nummerkins. Here’s a god who bites it

before the end of the book. Here’s a heart so fragile

the fabric of it tears whenever Blink looks at Blank.

Here’s an atmosphere so permeable you can bore

right through it by feeling dorky in bicycle clips.

The superior curvature of this strange posture

was first demonstrated near-simultaneously

by three different demographics: poor people stooping

to pick windfall peaches from a landowner’s orchard

by night, poor people compressing like accordions

in landowners’ mines to gather soundlessly clawfuls

of coal, & poor people leaving landowners’ houses

by the back door like little scurrying question marks.

These spirits, distilled from a now extinct sub-species

of amaranth grain, are used to strengthen the homemade

potions granting their modern-day occultic drinkers

power to force bare hands into the chests of victims

& remove vital organs—liver, lungs, heart—the way

Blink does just by looking at Blank. Here’s a rare perfume

that permeated the room where they cleaned the body

of someone there was no deceit in: sweet hints of fig.

Here’s a god so big he’s unafraid to be eaten.

Oberlin, Ohio 

June, 2019

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