Case in Point

The black ships of Magellan’s armada appeared over the horizon without being asked. I wasn’t going to let it ruin my good time. A new study had found that I “wear dark glasses, make unwarranted claims, pass secrets.” “Yeah, so?” I replied. I was a lot drunker than I thought. It was International Day of Yoga. “Welcome back to Bergen-Belsen!” a co-worker greeted me. I had just recovered from a long, painful bout of existential flu. If only I could forget what I saw while bedbound, the moon in the window bleeding as though from a rifle butt to the face.

Criminal

“Have a good one,” the cashier rotely says in a dead voice, handing me my change. I have a suspicious lump. I look like the kind of person who never got over being picked on in eighth grade. Every morning I wake up that much closer to the shadow line. The birds on the wire shiver, squeeze out a sound, half-whistle, half-sob. Any pain is excessive. I confess to it all as I would a crime.

^^^

HOWIE GOOD‘s poems have been widely published. His poetry collections include Bad for the Heart (Prolific Press) and Dark Specks in a Blue Sky (Another New Calligraphy). He is recipient of the 2015 Press Americana Prize for Poetry for his collection Dangerous Acts Starring Unstable Elements.

Image by Kalyee Srithnam.