Bad Trick
No laws of attraction mandated
By the Supreme Being apply here—
In this tawdry corn-filled leather bar
On the abandoned outskirts of town.
Thursdays the Lick-It Lounge doubles
As queer karaoke but if that tragic
No-butt dude with the over-Botoxed face
Thinks I’m in his league then
Let the evisceration begin, feed
The entrails to the culture vultures,
Pray the rosary beads off their strands.
And how did my own butt sag so soon,
Even in my best butt-cheeky Lucky jeans
And this well-beyond B-list attitude?
Who trolls the bars anymore anyway,
Since the damned Internet? No smoke,
Overpriced drinks, and we all look better
Closer to closing time, jacked on a second
Vodka martini (extra olives please),
Especially after months of expired latex.
But whoa, Mr. vacated-ass can sing,
Fashion casualties aside, and now
Some favorites: “Who’s That Girl”
and “Toxic” back to back—“work it”—
I find myself hooting. He winks,
Then follows me into the can,
For a little retro-ridiculousness—
Though thankfully those days are over.
He invites me to the Renaissance instead—
A luxury hotel…. I give the friend I came
With the it’s-all-wrong-but-I’m-going-anyway-
Sign. We’re off miles from my apartment—
Let’s hope he doesn’t have parasites.
Though he promptly warns he’s republican,
Fickle, and now offers to drive me home.
Now? I’d rather jump into the river stink,
Join the floating debris thirty feet
Below, though I’d probably live
And have to walk home wet, and die
Slowly, of pneumonia. If money’s
Attracted to me He better show up
Soon! Where’s that lanky, love-toy
Lacrosse player I was promised?
I’m next in line at the deli counter.
That’s my claim check. And why
Is it that reduced-price day-old
Bread always seems to be in the same
Aisle as the kitty litter? At the Rt. 95
Overpass I’m convinced it would be
Too messy, too much effort to climb
The fifteen-foot safety fence. I’m through
With disfigurement, and body parts.
My mind runs to stabbings, robberies.
None of us is getting younger. But please
Give back my license and ID. I can’t
Wait on a motor vehicle line again.
from The Mormon Boy Poems:
So I sd To Mikebigred1
Who’s trying to get a temple recommend
There’s been a Fatal Error
Of the Exploding Corn Star Email
“Gilding my lily”
A perfectly good idiom
When it meant
Taking a Piss!
I suppose we should go to the gym first
Instead of eating Chinese food
Which is a way of making love
Since we can’t
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
IF DANTE BELIEVED IN HELL THEN
Twenty-four days of record
Cold in Utah &
The inversion
Is surely that place
Jan. cold @ the
Professor’s house…
A foot of old snow
& that sick feeling
Again rudderless
At the car park
’til three in the morning
“You who taught me
How man makes
Himself eternal”
Encourages pity
For the sodomites
Writhing in the hot sands
In the fiery storm of rain
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
TRAVIS, TYLER, DUSTIN, DIRK
Jared, Dean, Dirkland, Braden
Brendan, Beau
Hank, (3) Marks
All from 24 Hour Fitness
Lance, Chris, Jesse
Juicy Booty
Jake
& Jeremy, A.k.a. Antonio
(Like I’m supposed to believe that)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
EVERYTHING’S FINE & NOTHING’S GOOD
In that 31-year-old-Utah-tortured sort of way
Uncoupled, aberrant
Those folks
Who attend
The reject ward:
Friday night
& we can’t go to Chuck-a-Rama
Because it’s date night
& he’s a 40 year-old
Talking about how well
He’s getting
Along
With his
Cat
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
LET ME CALL MARY GIAIMO
I’m getting too close
To the information
Rimbaud: “I have known all the sons of respectable families.”
My deer
Have horns
Not antlers
Cavafy: “My resolution to restrain myself to change, lasted for two weeks
at the very most.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ON THE STATIONERY/STATIONARY BIKE
“I also suffer from same sex attraction,”
Says the buff blond
I’ve been staring at
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
RINGING
I never worry about forgetting
Things
I just
Remember
Other things
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
PASSING
Old moon
In the new moon’s
Arms afterward
Your scent
In the seminar room
Corduroy & plaid
Each time
For a long time
Such cautionary
Togetherness
Had been enough
As if your Naval officer
Past
No longer existed
The bombing of that ship
You shirtless
A pronouncement
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CHRISTMAS NIGHT AT THE CORNER DONUT SHOP
I just walked in & already I smell the grease
On my clothes later when I’ll be writing this.
I told him I loved him today, we should move
In; I’ve known him three weeks. Already
I feel the ache of my lower back from all
The times he’ll disappointment me.
return to SHAMPOO 35