Pull The Chain
The morning train mails away.
The shit beside the railroad still fresh.
The girl on the facing seat sleeps
in between her legs.
A labor knotted hand lights
the day’s first cigarette guarding it
from the wind framed by the ajar door. Continua a leggere
An Epiphany Lost on Magical Mushrooms
One of her friends didn’t want any
so I decided to eat her share of the
mushrooms without considering the
possible consequences of doubling
down. Continua a leggere
The Christmas Family Form Letter
The letter arrives every year
like clockwork-
usually by the 15th of December
in a pink scented envelope
with masses of colourful stamps
& a professionally printed logo
with their names & address
pasted in the top left corner. Continua a leggere
Very Strange
Today, the light has a sharp edge,
one swing of a sunbeam
and the tower-bells
melt to a bowl of soup.
Flowers are sweating and
the dried grass, like limp scales.
I think the day is crazy, almost
sour and sick. Continua a leggere
Short History of Bad Relationships
Caught head lice in Mexico
from my brother or my sister:
I’m not sure which. My mother
suggested pet shampoo, but it
was ineffective. My mother Continua a leggere
The Unending
We had recently moved into an apartment only a block away from an elevated train track. At times, the trains roared loudly, as if surging through our living room. Sometimes the train’s rattle was subtle, like a gurgling brook. Sometimes we didn’t hear the train at all.
One night, a few weeks ago, I got home very late from work. All of the lights were out in the apartment. On the kitchen table, I saw a cigarette still smoking in an ash tray, though I didn’t see Triny, my wife. I figured she must have just gone to bed. I undressed, closed the lights and settled into bed. Continua a leggere
THE SILENCE OF OUR FATHERS
none of them ever admitted it
at least not that I remember
the whole village of fathers
and father figures
that raised us to be men
all silent about an animating force
as common as an itchy ballsack Continua a leggere
