What's Your Poison?
All revolutions squashed or co-opted.
Capitalism's rejects find solace
in the community of 12-Step programs,
addiction as group identity.
Nightmare Carpet
Love in the Time of Pandemic
I want to inhale you, smell your hair, rub my cheek against yours, hold you close and dance in the moonlight
I want to talk to you, tell you everything: the important stuff, the trivial stuff, the mind-blowing stuff, the boring stuff
I want to hold your hand, sit in silence, sip from the same glass, eat from the same plate, sleep in the same bed
The World is a Fucking Torture Chamber
The world is a fucking torture chamber,
endless videos of shlock horror porn,
or, actually, it's more subtle than that,
endless cubicles of particleboard,
computer screens, perfunctory greetings.
I see people and I want to sodomize, rape them,
kill them in their sleep, or wake them up,
just to see the surprise and terror on their stupid faces
and to puncture their flesh to see the contortions of pain.
Perfectionism
Smelling of Sex, of Summer, of Love
The Loudest Voices Don’t Speak for Me
What Are You Working On?
The Sadness and the Quietness
the sadness
that is people
the sadness of wanting to die
but being compelled to live
On Going Through Family Papers During the Pandemic
Everyone seems so very fragile,
as fragile as the books falling apart
from glue that has dried to cracking,
tears in the dust jackets,
the extra thin World War II era paper
The Child Screams Next Door
The child screams next door.
What are they doing to that child?
I’m happy staying at home alone but …
I miss walking over to a neighborhood bar and the bartender recognizes me because I am a regular and have been there lots of times before and they’re happy to see me and we chat a little and I get a drink because sometimes it’s fun to get a drink and talk and laugh…
The Heaviness and Lightness of Old Age
Not Within the Realm of Reasonable Expectations
Going Down the Prepper Rabbit Hole
I wasn't worried about running out of Clorox wipes until I saw they’re prioritized for hospitals on Amazon and totally out of stock at Walgreens, Target, Walmart, Staples, etc.
My sister often says, “Our family is not surviving the zombie apocalypse.”
The Hard Way
Highlights from My Love Life
My first high school steady
was a computer geek.
I read sci-fi novels
and corrected his college essay.
We tried bondage and anal.
I'm lucky his interest in me
wasn't confined to the cranial.
crazy trails to you
Cabin Fever Blues
Staying inside
Itchy skin
Don't feel like watching the news
Don't feel like love
More trouble than it's worth
Haven't shaved my legs in a month
Cause really who gives a fuck
“They waited for the next frightened person to confuse survival with surrender.”