“The Hell Scar,” “God and the Devil Live in Kentucky; or, a Pedophile’s Prayer,” “Soma Holiday,” and “Herman Melville Wrestles with White Fragility via Moby-Dick”
The Hell Scar ---after Sylvia Plath My madness is mercurial. I can prove it. The floor will soon be littered with glittery thermometer shards, as I…
“The Door at the End of the Hall,” “Memoir,” “Playing Baseball,” and “The Best She’s Ever Had”
The Door at the End of the Hall I walk toward the door at the end of the hall behind which all of the trouble starts I watch my hand reach toward the…
“Questions for Us,” “My Poems Grow Like a Tree,” “What Color Was Coral,” and Other Poems
Questions for us Our fellow species on this earth are magnificent, eccentric beasts, creations of evolution over many millennia. Why do we not…
In Psychiatric Department
1: In Psychiatric Department A yellow Dark-skinned girl is Sitting sideways on a Wooden armrest Long fringes fall over She looks at me through her…
Skooling on Sundaes
She was a beautiful silver-blonde girl, not exactly Swedish but not exactly not either, married to a most likeable guy, widely considered handsome,…
We
Mortal gods take their importance, true magicians Great power perceived by what we give them, thieves of emotion Leave the curtain closed and enjoy…
Crazy Chestnuts Stuffed with Shit
With my friend Jesus Autumn and winter afternoons Above all, for all the Saints When the bells of the Cathedral And all the churches in the City They…
“Trepidation,” “Polishing Photos,” “Intestine,” and Other Poems
Trepidation One day a man came to me He said I heard you have a lot of trepidation I said you were right He said can you show me I pulled out a…
Prism
My German grandmother told me as a child: “Never play with Negroes, Jews, wops or half-breeds.” My mother was less vociferous about such matters, but…
The Corpse
The Corpse looked at me from the place where he died I said: ‘The World’s moved on since then I don’t know how many miles’ “But I died where you…
