Status Updates From After Fame: The Epigrams of...

you’ve lived so long by yourself
now start living in paper
as a flame does
(ashes are for later)

They urged me to address
the issues of the day
they told me I ‘nailed’ it
‘nailing’ it is what
the coffin maker does
I think I screwed it up

I hope you read my book of poems
while lying supine on a crimson sofa,
with the pages resting on your eyelids
wearing an expression like the cover (it’s blank).
My life proves it - my poems are harmless.

Hmm, I don’t think Riviere’s poetry is for me...