I think this was
a horrible mistake
coming back to my old hometown
born and raised
its upsetting me a great deal
being here
so much of it is built up
unrecognizable
but so much is exactly the same
I’m sitting in a parking lot
of a Carl’s Jr.
that seems to have shrunk
I’m eating a lettuce wrapped
famous star
with no cheese, mayo or ketchup
because I’m old and careful now
when I used to come here as a teenager
I would get the double bacon western cheese
and criss cut fries
the landscape doesn’t ring any bells
anymore
but then every once in a while
between two new industrial buildings
I’ll see a remnant from my childhood
beat to shit
about to fall in on itself
I’m gonna leave
going down streets I’ve never traveled
so I don’t have to see the horror
of the modern city
that ate up my hometown
Get your copy of FINGERING THE MUNDANE my early poems. It’s a collection of 6 out of print chapbooks. 250 pages of poetry!
