a couple of priests

walked into the bar -

not a joke -

although we all thought it was

and they were smart enough to sit

at the barren end

of the bar

away

from the hooters

and hollerers

but they all still made

their jokes

and the priests

pretended they couldn’t hear

they just ordered their pints

of heineken

and talked in low whispers

to each other

i kept staring at them

but they didn’t seem t...

i recently wrote a poem

about wanting to have peace

total peace

with no dogs barking

or cars honking

or loud commercials

or people on speaker phones

etc etc

and all i want

is a book, Bach, a fire,

and my own goddam farts

and i got some questions

about why i kept the farts in

the poem

and the reason is

tonight

my wife had dinner plans

and i stayed home

so i put on Bach

and grabbed a book

and li...

i just want

peace

no more trains

or dogs barking

no more car horns

or shouting outside

no more speaker phone

or cat’s meowing

or hissing

or scratching at their own shit

no more children

in general

no more commercials

louder than the show

no more clearing of throats

no more small talk

nothing but

Bach

a book

the crackling of fire

and

my own

goddamn farts...

i finished the last

stanza

and looked up from

my notebook

and saw her staring at me

so i stared back

while i grabbed my beer

and took a swig

i knew that look

and knew what was coming

and then it came

“are you a writer?”

she asked me

isn’t everybody?

i asked back

she moved two seats closer

until her leg was up against mine

and put two fingers up

at the barkeep

“what kind of writer

are you?”...

they are playing The Doors

he texted her

i am sure you are happy about that

she replied back

one beer

he said

no beer

she said

one drink

he said

she took a few minutes

as he went outside

for a cigarette

so he texted again

i need you

i need you

no you don’t

she answered

more than you know

more than you understand

for your art or pleasure

she asked

what’s the difference

he said

what i...

he asked for a shot

with his beer

another fight?

i asked him

yeah

he said

last night

he said

what did you do?

i asked

nothing, man

i never do anything

he said

he ordered another shot

and i ordered another beer

so what happened?

i asked

she was just in a mood,

always in a mood

what did you do?

nothing, man

i went to the bar

i came here

and then what?

i asked

he took his shot

and put u...

there was an exhibit

from an artist who drew

only with markers

so you could see

each stroke, each lift

and press of the marker

where pressure was applied

and released

and

i looked around

and saw come children

and teenagers

viewing the artwork

with their parents

and their stances

mimicked each other

and their vocal inflection

mimicked each other

and their confidence

mimicked each other

and

just...

I prayed this was one of my smaller mistakes. I knew it wasn’t, but I was working on my pessimism. My wife always talked about my pessimism, as if she was the sun herself, and I the moon counting down the seconds until I could remove her light. I didn’t view it like that, but that didn’t matter. She didn’t know the definition of nihilism. She didn’t read books.

I sat in my car, waiting to feel an...

- what’s it about the sunset, she said

they sipped their margaritas and brown hair

dug her toes into the sand, then she spoke

- because we don’t know the why?

- it IS like magic, blonde said back

they sipped their margaritas and brown hair

refilled them once emptied, then she spoke

- there isn’t much magic left

- how do we get it back, blonde asked

- we keep drinking

- that is a sad reality, blo...

i asked for advice

up and down the bar

and every response

had something to do

with my heart

to listen with it

to view with it

to feel with it

to decide with it

and i thought about the thing

the horrible shape

the pumping

the blood inside

like a highway

keeping us going

doing a lot

but still expected

to do more

the hideous heart

so grotesque it had to be

put inside, away from sight

and i thou...