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a non-working title
I lied to her about paying the telephone bill
today I threw out the disconnection notice
I have $31.26 in my savings account
her eyes are closed
her heartbeat is steady
tonight she dreams of elsewhere
I lay beside her
hopeless
as the hydro bill
Maggots
I am avoiding the work of other people
refusing to eat in restaurants
because I know that the shattered dreams
of waiters
will lead to spitting in the food
and leaving maggots in the rice
I will avoid touching buildings
because I know
that the muscles became firm
and the hands calloused
and now she would be thrilled
to touch
and be touched
by such a man
I will no longer walk upon the sidewalks
laid down by the city workers
because I know
they were granted stability
a family
and have made the last payment
upon the family car
I am avoiding the work of others
but most especially
the poets
who have promised life
even while dead
promising to be alive
as if you would meet one
on any day
on any street
as if it isn’t all bullshit
bullshit
they have left us behind
with skeletal grins
empty promises
departed
completed
leaving the world filled
with something that sounds like peace
while
the rivers flow and the oceans rip
the mountains that are
waiting and
wanting
to crush us
foolish dreamers
those damn poets
Bloodletting
he blows out the blackness from his nose
and taunts the other tables with his burning
cigarette
he has never seen a newborn’s tongue
or the scars he has left upon her womb
he has read Fiesta
twice
one day
he will be the best Spanish bullfighter
in all of Prince George
gin
blossoms in his soul
Paul Liddy
Email: Paul Liddy
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