Wednesday, February 24, 2016

sort of "best of" poem of the day 02.24.16

deep in the novel writing...so poems coming slow.
this isn't a best of poem...i don't think i ever put this up here (there were reasons at the time)
so here goes:

my enemy

i have an enemy

he’s been sharpening his hatred for me for years
keeping it all stored for a later date

he is the simplest of pronouns

he claims that i have family issues
that i never got along with daddy
that mommy never loved me

that i’m so negative because i didn’t  grow up right

he has a degree in psychology
that’s decades old

my enemy claims to be freud
but i feel like machiavelli whenever he’s around

he’s a pretty big failure all the same

failed at being a spouse
failed at being a human being

he used to piss himself
and once he shit his pants on the way to the movies

everyone says my enemy is harmless
he’s just jealous because his life didn’t pan out
and now he’s facing the tattered end of the line

i don’t know if i believe them
i can see the murder in the man’s eyes
the perverse joy he takes in hating me

plus people have caught him shouting about me
into his cellphone
kicking at walls as he spewed invective and threats

he once claimed to want to kill me

i believe his hatred for me gives him a purpose
and a reason to wake up in the morning

everyone is somebody’s villain
everyone is somebody’s asshole

i’m his

my enemy
what can i really do about him?

he keeps my poems and stories
in a crisp manila folders
as evidence of my cruelty toward him
and the rest of humanity

he wants me hung for making art
out of my scrap heap life

i had no clue that he was such a fan

i’m thinking of dedicating my next book him
giving him a signed copy
the next time that i see him
with an inscription that’ll read

dear enemy,
thank you from the bottom of my heart
for all of your time and energy
for all of your dedication and support
for all of those sleepless nights
for the sad and pathetic troll of a shit stain that you are
on this old world

and for the strong man that your weakness
and petty resolve
have forced me to become


i couldn’t have done it all without you                            07.25.12/08.06.12

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just started reading your poems again. It has been a long time. This one hit it out of the ball park. Brilliant writing. Thanks for finally putting it out there.