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08.31.2021

An Excessive Presence of Forms

He says he’s here to check my tags

To make sure I’ve been counted

To sum up all rhinoceroses

And see just what’s amounted

He says he needs my middle name

And the length of each my horns

And he’s sure he needs the phase of the moon

On the day that I was born

He says he’d like to hear me sing

And stand up on my toes

And wonders if I can recall

How the alphabet, backwards, goes

He scribbles these down as quick as can be

Referencing systemic norms

But I’ve already titled my formal complaint

“An Excessive Presence of Forms”