Suburban Perseus
Contemporary Poetry
I spend all my time screaming at walls
and watching my prison sink.
Circumvented by people I no longer respect,
The tears they shed are meaningless like pages devoid of ink.
Nothing, nothingness,
I am full of emptiness.
Exhale with me and try to catch your breath,
Keep going until you find nothing left.
Then hear the screams of alley cats, starving to death twice:
once from hunger,
once from loneliness.
But alley cats die many times
So we too must go on while we’re still alive.
Idleness is for warm climates,
But my eyes have frozen over,
Mirror-like glass to reflect your impressions.
A suburban Perseus,
Brandishing my sword of pharmaceuticals to destroy the drying days.
Like a guillotine dropping I finish drinks poured too stiff,
And wander through the Gorgon’s layer.
more by TIMOTHY MAPLEY
photograph by Redd Angelo
