Numbers
For I have—
And I have
My reach in this
Thing—
And I am some—
Two men—
That he—but he
Did not—
Why one—so that
I am—
And one had some—
I am—
We had some—
If one some—
Is that—if
Two did—
But all try—
Their something:
One did—he
Did want to—
The other did not
Repeated Omission
For I have—
And I have
My reach in this
Thing—
And I am some—
Two men—
That he—but he
Did not—
Why one—so that
I am—
And one had some—
I am—
We had some—
If one some—
Is that—if
Two did—
But all try—
Their something:
One did—he
Did want to—
The other did not
Pulling It Off
He touched her—
The table came off
She took this—
He did—
It came off—and
The table—
Came off
He put his hands
Out—
Imagine it
Off—it came
Off
Katy Lederer is the author of the poetry collections Winter Sex (Verse/Wave) and The Heaven-Sent Leaf (BOA Editions), as well as the memoir Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers (Crown). These poems are from a forthcoming collection titled The bright red horse--and the blue--. She lives in Brooklyn.