simple as fuck
used to be
that guy
with a bouquet
behind
back
bambi eyed
linen white
soul
mac and cheese
by candlelight
a sucker for bozo love
still am
but a bit more feral
soul like a hornet’s nest
and
a heart full of u-turns
with a wrecking ball disposition
for brick walls
black outs
and
ex prom queen train wrecks
- Ernie Culver
(featured in the poetry forum 03.22.10)
road maps
didn’t speak w/ gnomes
take apart animals
or
got fed thru a cage
as one
but was pushed in with
all who did
first grade on
I understood pariah
what it looked like from the ground
up
how many I could put out
before the bell
rang
sometimes I caught
a mouth
square on
more often than not
I fell short
couldn’t counter worth shit
trying to keep the hyenas from closing in
and
the pit bulls
at bay
wasn’t long till
mom got called
picked me up
and
had
one on one’s
w/ teachers
why my b+
slipped to a
c-average
how I might benefit in
smaller classes
maybe see a shrink
or two
how long is this going to go on for
mom asked
behind
cupped hands
don’t know I said
truth be told
I still don’t
- Ernie Culver
(added 03.22.10)
reruns
woke up
in the truck again
outside
a friend’s house
hardly any improv left in me
another
two am
drunken
knife fight
with the girlfriend’s
doppelganger
typically happens
after we drain
three
or more
bottles of cabernet
when her shit faced epiphanies
about me
being like my father
materialize
like a patch of black ice
it’s a played out
clown show
know it pretty well
so
I do my best to
cue up the tears
at all
the wrong moments
and
nod off during gunfire
hence
86’d
and housed up
in a
GMC
as another morning
smiles
like a machete
- Ernie Culver
(featured in the poetry forum 11.22.09)
to hell and back again
a choir
of god’s flock
rage outside
a plan and parenthood
going ape shit
gnashing teeth
doing what
they do
I stop at a red
and watch
this cluster fuck
unfold
a paraplegic
wheels around
pumping a 6 ft cross
in air
screaming
while a circus of
pig faced teens
lepers
and pinheads
grind away
I try to find
something
to throw at them:
contraceptives
a giant piñata of jesus
some tennis balls
nothing
but a cheap
reactionary devil sign
just to fan
the flames
a bit
moments pass
I get a green
and move on
once more
with the rest
of the damned
towards the next
accident
up ahead
Ernie Culver
(featured in the poetry forum 09.05.09) |
