nails that could no longer hold the petal mask we wore the winter it all became undone
I walked into a mattress firm
with a box of duplex nails
and a hammer my dad got me for christmas
I asked the manager if the bed could accommodate
a body in permanent recline
he said it could
and obliged in the ritual
as another customer discussed a payment plan
with a kiosk
years later
people would visit the store
to see if their threshold for intolerable comfort
was the same as mine