It may not be nice to be good, little 6655321. It may be horrible to be good. And when I say that to you I realize how self-contradictory that sounds. I know I shall have many sleepless nights about this. What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? Deep and hard questions, little 6655321.
–Anthony Burgess
Drains throat more
than water—spiraling soap, hair,
dirt, grease, cleanser, champagne
grapes, spit, toothpaste,
and other bits of waste we launch
earthward. We know well enough,
standing in the slime of refusing-
to-empty tubs, lowering hands
into murky dishwater to finger
out clogs—no matter how we malign
people and actions, we connect with
the suck of energy. We need
the drain’s down so we can clean up.