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Three poems photo

King of the Road

naked as death
begging on the highway

I calibrate the instrument
of my breastplate to lead me
back to you

I never once saw a dog chase a bone
but I never knew a dog that wasn’t
so sick it couldn’t get up

I never knew someone as lonely as me
           then I was born

 

Palida Luna

whenever I leave on a trip
I sit down
with my ghost and say

I’m going out
you stay here

by this time tomorrow I intend to be standing
on a tall rock holding hands
with Lydia Mendoza
but until then
I’ll settle

for this dream behind the wheel
where I’m walking to the top
of the burial mound in South Charleston
West Virginia
across from Suzi’s
Drive In under a moon
close and calm
as a nurse’s hand
toward my grandfather

last thing he ever said to me was
you’re gonna make me cry
and I did


Fools

their graves were made out of sheet metal

while the answer was in front of them the whole time

just hang on a little longer it gets

easier

from here

I promise

image: Mélanie Desriaux


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