“Dogman” by Aggie Zed; for more information, visit
http://www.aggiezed.com/

To Cruise

 by D. Gilson

In Prague, we grind at McDonald’s.
Americans need wifi to cruise. French
fries we’d never eat at home. In Prague
boys cruise in alleys off Charles Square,
but I’m scared one might beat me up.
In Prague I pay to be beaten up
in a dark room at a club called Escape.
In Prague I do not eat french fries
with mayonnaise but I feed whole packets
of ketchup at thirty crowns apiece
to a boy from the streets. He is hungry.
In Prague I let the boy collar and leash
me. In Prague, he teaches me, you will
act like a dog, lick the feet and beg for it.
I’m broken by his English. I bark in Prague.

About D. Gilson

D. Gilson is the author of Crush (Punctum Books, 2014), with Will Stockton, and the chapbooks Brit Lit (Sibling Rivalry, 2013) and Catch & Release (Seven Kitchens, 2012, winner of the Robin Becker Prize). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry, The Indiana Review, and PANK. Find him at dgilson.com.