Sitting at Vivace

Sitting at Vivace
One unsweetened ice tea
One cheese croissant
Bikes with goat-horn handlebars
Men in white hats and orange vests hanging from scaffolds
Marble tabletops veined like a smoker’s lung
Nose-rings and jean skirts
The din of conversation
The drone of the low bass
The hiss of the milk-steamers

two cats in a zoo

417 nesting pairs (+1), alone without a chaperone,
“You shouldn’t read this. It’ll make you cry.”

Another cat tears meat from a bone;
Blood in her smile, she licks the tears away.

blood pours from
the keyhole in my forehead,
as she inserts the key.

the name of someone so close
comes off the lips like a foreign word

The steely smell of my fingertips
The sheets of gray sky
The snot lodged in my nose
The stacks of dirty laundry

Are not impressed by my good looks
and charming personality

“Your eyes look weird,
like you haven’t been sleeping,
or like you’ve been asleep for a long time.”

applied for membership

on my way to mercury,
a girl smiled at me as I passed.
I had to force a scowl.
it was half-hearted.

a dark door in a dark alley,
the chrome of nearby motorcycles,
reflected a neon-light.

"ID." she said.
"there you go, sweety,"
and stamped my wrist.

no one dancing on a Sunday.
a bit disappointing.

the bartender, a fu manchu marked his face.
a pentagram hung against customary black.
"how's yer day goin'?" he said with a bright smile.

I shouldn't have tipped him, but I did.

great music in this little corner.
good place for a troll to sit.
a crisscross place.
a jigsaw room.

on an empty dance floor,
those that dance, don't dance for long.
the lights spin lonely without company,
when we drink and become sad.

Orange Alert

'There is some evidence from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that links certain breeds with dog bite fatalities [8]. The dog breeds that were linked to dog bite fatalities were pit-bull type dogs, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Husky type dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Wolf-Dog Hybrids and Alaskan Malamutes. Despite these statistics, the CDC and the authors of this study argue against breed specific legislation because (1) many breeds of dog are associated with dog bite fatalities; (2) dog-bite related fatalities are linked more strongly with responsible dog ownership; and (3) insufficient data for making statistical claims. The CDC has stated that it is incapable of determining whether the statistics above reflect a disproportionate representation of specific breeds because of a lack of data. [9] In order to calculate breed-specific fatality rates, they need reliable breed-specific population data. This data is not available. Thus, although there is a trend towards certain breeds being more dangerous than others, this cannot be conclusively proven.'

I think of her lily scented skin
The wine tastes like butterscotch and cotton candy
My fingers smudge the glass

her soft skin
stops my breath

the perfect man
walks on his father's grave
kisses his wife asleep

it's not the fall,
but the smack at the bottom,
that overcomes addiction.

but, we still cough.
our teeth still fall out.