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At Second Glance (Free verse) by Jeremi B. Handrinos
What I've seen has left me
Scarred like a plowed November field
Scared, as child facing abandonment
Man forced to imagine not being
Able to feed, or lead his family
Into the hope of dreams, idle, foreign
Set to recede with sunrise and the 9-5
I tread the night, undead, and silent
Looking for things that bump back
Hands thrust-ed down -- cigarette
Signaling naught, but my curiosity:
Is a thousand sun starved prisoners
A million blasted sand granules
A 100 broken hearted teenagers
One cracked moon flailing into Ocean
Driven by escape and unrealistic plans
I forge lists that read:
1. Fix truck's tires and air conditioning
2. Get a job
3. Appreciate what you have more, and what you
Want less
4. Vacation, vacation, vacation
5. Insurance, insurance, insurance
6. Don't self destruct
7. Drink more juice, less sauce
8. Don't lie about stupid shit
9. Vaginas are corrupt, beware, stay inside, be good.
10. Don't be selfish, you're a dad now.
11. No fighting, you have a record.
The city is eating my liver with a straw
Cars, people, food, air, sales, mail
Oh what can my poetry be but warning
Decorated in tales of woe and slop
Pinned up by elongated vowels and
Abrupt consonants puffing out their
Thick and slurred rounds and hollows.
This planet is screaming in my ear
About death and music without meaning
Old men parting their hair to give the news
Selling smiles like bibles for cannibals
And opinions by the erectile dysfunction ad.
Heaven is a club everyone claims as theirs
Here, take my invite, seat, and reason to go.
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