Monday, August 29, 2011

poem of the day 08.29.11

world against me

i get no mercy
and no miracles

perhaps i should learn
how to pray or beg

but i have this cat that sneezes
in torrents

who has gotten so thin
that she almost passes out

yet the good doctor
finds no tumor in her nose
although he’s sure that it’s there

so now we’re waiting on death to arrive

she has three rotten teeth as well

but…

i listen to the doctor talk

i believe that he is a kind man
merciful where many others aren’t

he cannot say the phrase

put her down

without blushing

i like this doctor
but i find it hard not to wonder
what he’s done with all of the money
i’ve pumped into his business this year
with two aging cats at home

all of the teeth extractions
the x-rays
the anesthesia and antibiotics

it adds up
almost over two grand
since this miserable calendar flipped

shit, some days it feels as though
the world is against me

like the optical assistant
who charged me five hundred for new glasses

she showed me the real cost
on her calculator
just so i knew that i was getting a deal

i knew that i was getting something
but it wasn’t a deal

i know that these people are just doing their jobs

the vet and the optical assistant

the booze merchant
who keeps raising the cost
of my scotch and wine on a monthly basis

the poetry and fictions editors too
who feel it incumbent upon themselves
to reject me in mass waves

i just wish that they wouldn’t come at me
all at once

especially on days like this
where i’m sick and sweating
can’t even lift a beer to my mouth

they should all get together
have a conference on me

try and space out the hardship

because i’m a merciful man too

i know how it feels
to hold the paycheck in my hands
every two weeks

feeling it gone just as it arrived

staving off the madness
a bottle of wine in one hand
the fraying noose in the other

drooling on street corners

waving at the good animal doctor
as he passes

fingering my monthly bus pass
as he gets into that big black car of his

a fine ride that purrs like a kitten

one with perfect ivory teeth
and not a bulb of snot
in sight.

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