Interval

Don’t look at the crumbson my countertopand the floors I haven’t cleanedsince I moved in here,I am getting to them slowlyin my own way. I fuck around on phone callsbecause the person on the other endis way too far away to ever strangle me.So fuck them and their questionsabout the credit cards I never useand […]

Basics of Profanity

I watch the highlights in my boxersand the goalie breaks his stickover the crossbar as a protest.I take phone calls the rest of the afternoonmostly wrong numbers seekingnumerical directions to their loved ones. I help find them in the phone bookI’ve kept open to the same pagesince I snatched it torn up somewhereon the highway. […]

Post October Odyssey

I spend the first ten years of every lifejust eating off the paper platesyou left for me.They tear so easily and burn so hotthe fire spreads to everything. The old beat up truck rolls backwardsdown the hill againand crushes all the prairie dogslike lemons into lemonade.I used to be afraid of facesnow I cannot live […]

No Such Place

She held the pipe for mewhile I tucked my shirt in on the patioand the flower burning slowlyleft an ashy ring on everything it covered. My coffee headache sickened meand left me almost useless the whole morning.Up and down the stairs to officeswith ceramic mugs and excess pensfor everyone. The lost prayed in the back […]

Snapshot

Irreplaceable photographs fall fromthe rafters of an old barn where the sunshineis revolted by the shade. Broken store front windows in the dustpansof the night crew all lean againsttheir brooms just as it’s day againand everything is peaceful. The rail yard screams like a new bornmade of metal so colossal in its infancy.All anyone can […]

Paywall

I take out all the empty cansand give them to the skeletonin the dumpster drinking run offfrom the living world for nothingbut the after taste that triggersall his memories. She slides the fresh tip of her knifeagainst the frosted over windowwhile the bus can’t keep its paceon any back road. The chain link rattles while […]

Definition Of Music

I’m in a time lapse of a time lapsewhere the stars move fastlike traffic on the quicker days.Nobody has enough batteriesto keep the screens on andthe local sponsors happy.They try and tell me what they wantfrom me, and all the days I spendout awol in the side streetshaven’t helped the morningscool down any sooner. You […]

Fluke

I see the factory start overtimeand catch a glimpse of a car accident.Some young guy in his eight thousanddollar ride that barely stays in drive.They get the hydrant open fast enoughand nothing burns for longer than it’s needs to.We have the same feelings about itfor years, and here I am again,unpacking all the angles so […]

Side Effect of drowsiness

I’m not afraid of where the tree is tornand all the scorpions and apricotsappeasing death around the base of it.I burn it down repeatedlyand it grows back palerevery time with bark that looks like fleshthe more I’ve killed it.I walk in a ditch next to the roadto get to the drug store,and fill plastic bagswith […]

Outlaw Irises

I know she’s at the concert nowbut I can’t make it out of town to be there,and she likely wouldn’t see mein the first place.I wish I could take this part out of me,like a single gear lifted from a pocket watch,but all these machinations aren’t so simplespreading slowly over everything I feel.Being around her […]