--BACK UP, MOVE ON, AND GO DESTROY SOMETHING ELSE

 

Juxtaposed

Sun high

Cloudless sky
Perfect day in every way
I should be outside basking
Instead of inside
Watching the lake smooth then ripple
Pondering how much damage a
Belt buckle can do

 

An Education

The lady I babysat for

Would be called a MILF today
Polaroids of her in the arms of Ricky Nelson
Covered the fridge along with a handmade calendar
After the kid was asleep I got nosey
Made my way into the bedroom
Under the mattress was a copy of The Kama Sutra
And The Joy of Sex
I had never thought of Joy and Sex
Being partners and comfortable together
Though the illustrations made that seem possible
In the nightstand drawer was a lilac-colored
Vibrator that rattled when I turned it on
Startling me like a slap from God
It smelled like stale honey
The tip carved like a large tooth
And bearing pale flecks of dried residue
I wondered what she thought when she used it
What sounds she made
If she shuddered or remained passive
Up until then I’d never admired a woman more
When she came home later than expected
I couldn’t look her in the eye
I must have spent the money she paid me on something
But for the life of me I can’t remember what

 

Artificial Insemination

The cattle wouldn’t breed

So a man came
Dad told me to watch
This is one way you grow up
The man put on a latex glove
Squirting yellow syrup over his hand
He plunged it into the cow’s hind part
Where there were two openings
I wondered why he was so rough
Kathy, our cow, coughed and
Jerked her head up
Brown eyes big as saucers
I wondered why she didn’t kick
The man’s hand dug and probed
And Kathy shat a messy pile
Fucking happens every time, the man said
When it was over Dad wrote out a check
And the two of them took turns
Downing shots of something
That must have burned
Laughing like delinquents
In the barn where light
Ran through splits in the wood
Like the tease of hope
I’d sometimes feel
When they left
I asked Kathy how she was doing
But she never answered
She didn’t say a word
Wouldn’t even look at me
But I rubbed the long bone
By her snout just the same
Telling her there are other people
In the world who are not so cruel
And that she should let her calf know that
When she arrived into the world

 

Voice Box

They were always stripping things away

Sometimes in the shade
And other times in the wide open
Our dog was a nuisance
Its barking bothered the neighbors
Who had nothing else to do but complain
I worried they’d have it killed but instead
A man came and did some surgery
Removing a voice box saying
There.  That should do the trick.
At night when it got windy
I could hear the dog out in the yard trying
To warn or defend us
Coughing at the pale moon
Trying so hard to be heard and noticed