trisia eddy - romania, sideways

supposedly, we all come with

hair clean, combed free of nits.

don't share towels, she warns,

everything is contagious.

sheets, pillows, children--

all need to be cleaned with

bleach.  then dried.

supposedly, someone alone

becomes a nuance, blue-green

and floating on the surface.  a

fruit fly, finding solace on the ripe

bottom of a pineapple.  taken

on the train, windows boarded

and air-conditioning broken,

several beads reform and dislocate.

the fruit flies, the lice; all bedmates,

all comrades.  shaking heads

won't deter the desperate from

offering an old jar of homemade

plum preserve in exchange for

orange c-plus, fizzy in the bottle.

dry-crusty bread rinds, half-mouldy

cheese:  the whole basket shared.