How to Live Long and Prosper

For Gavin


Around the time that you were leaving school
For porn, I was starting to teach myself
How to suppress my emotions—not
My love of boys—just fooling with a few

Survival techniques picked up on TV
From Mr. Spock. He taught me how to live—
Half-human, pointy-eared—with aliens
I could never hope to understand.

The blue veins in my arms let me pretend
My blood was copper-based—bright green—until
I tripped down the back stairs, shattered a
Window, nearly slit my carotid artery.

I bled red all over mom. I received
Six horrible sutures beneath a sheet
Of light, scared that the lidocaine would turn
My rubbery face into a permanent mask.

My face recovered. That scar has faded.
But you can see it if you stand close
And raise my chin. You might also notice
My eyes are green. Locked inside is Spock.