ad:

as you walk into this 1970s
Highland Park beauty
you be
pleasantly
SURPRIZED!

it is located
MINUTES
to Eagle Rock

the entire apartment
has been
completed painted

the living room
has a large window
that looks down
on a lively courtyard
and opens up to
the kitchen

there is a beautiful
subway tile
and a breakfast bar

adorable bedroom
in nicely sized
w/ a spacious closet
and includes A/C unit

this apartment is
minutes to downtown
which is filled
w/ trendy shops
and authentic restaurants

my inquiry:

i don’t like
being shouted at
i’ll let that go
but what is
completed painted?

do you have an apartment
where you can reach
the kitchen
without having to crawl
through the living room
window?

i had to google
subway tile
although nice
it is quite small
could i possibly get
a breakfast bar
with more than one
subway tile?

i do have a lot of vinyl records
so the closet with A/C is great
but what about the rest of the
apartment?
does it come with A/C as well?

i’m not too concerned with
trendy shops
but
i think what worries me most
is that i never knew
there were such things
as authentic restaurants
it makes me think that
possibly
some of the restaurants
that i have been
frequenting
may be fake
or inauthentic
how can you tell?
do they have to post a sign?

anyhow
i would love to hear back
from you
about the rental requirements
for the apartment
thanks

Get your copy of 13 MILES SOUTH OF HELL! My new spooky scary chapbook!

i pulled up
to the old desert property
for the first time in months
the place looked a wreck
everything in disarray
trash everywhere
flowing like the water
that had never been there
but that i always hoped for

it felt weird
being in a ghost town
of my own creating
the ground squirrels were gone
the ravens were gone
the road runners gone
the iguanas gone
there was a jackrabbit
running away from me
it stopped and looked at me
as if saying
“you don’t belong here”
jack was right
i didn’t

the only person who belongs here
is one who accepts their own death
to feed the scavengers of the vast sand

i observed all my broken dreams
saw the carcasses of all my past purchases
that were supposed to improve my life
tumbleweeds weren’t even inspired to blow by
this lot was too dead for even them

the rats
the almighty desert wood rats
had won
they destroyed my trailer
chewed through everything
shit on everything
pissed on everything
nothing was left

i closed my eyes
felt the warmth of the sun
the breeze cooling the sweat on my skin
i tried to remember
the freedom i felt
the peace i felt
when we first got there
the hopes i had
the dreams i dreamt
i took a deep breath
feeling those feelings again
then opened my eyes
to the rancor of disillusionment
and the shattered pieces of those broken dreams
in the sand
for the woodrats and rattlesnakes
the rattlesnakes and woodrats
broken pieces that i hope they choke on

by next summer
no one will ever know
that we lived, dreamed and struggled here
for over two years
the desert will win
the desert will always win
the elements will take what they want
and leave nothing but heartbreak
sweat
and decay
right here
with all my dashed hopes
failure after failure

stay out of the desert
the world is just getting more severe
stay in the cities
stay in the mountains
stay on the farm
the desert is deserted
for the reason
that it wants nothing from you
has nothing for you
is nothing for you
is nothing
just miles and miles of sand
and nothing more

jack was right
“you don’t belong here”

Pick up my chapbook book 13 Miles South of Hell available now at my Etsy shop!

Whitman said,
“to have great poets
there must be great audiences”

Bukowski said,
“to have great audiences,
we need great poets”

I think they were both
fingering the date
before dinner and drinks

in order to have
great audiences
and great poets
there needs to be great places
for them to meet
to collide
to intersect

without this
what is the point?

I don’t know
if there are any of those.
there are “places”
venues, magazines, social media, etc.

but no place as of yet
that is GREAT

for poets
poetry
audiences
or anything

make great places

Pick up my chapbook book 13 Miles South of Hell available now at my Etsy shop!