hurry we have
to warn the whole complex
lock your doors
and hide your kids and pets

later i saw the tiger in question
curled up by the pool
a collar for possession
just a fat orange tabby
looking bored as hell
while everyone is stressing
i went and checked the mail

old mr whats his name waved me over from his parking spot
said “the national guard’s been called out!
word is there’s a tiger stalking about!”
i says “you people really need to calm down”
he said “it’s already killed three dogs and a man!”

hurry we have to
warn the whole complex
lock your doors
and hide your kids and pets

tweaker dude came pounding on my wall
said “the police are on their way”
he thinks it was a jaguar, loose in his condo
he said “it was spotted by the elementary school!”
i says “neither one of you are allowed to be there, dude, i’m glad you called the cops”

hurry we have to
warn the whole complex
lock your doors
and hide your kids and pets

brenda came running from the parking lot screaming “wait!”
said her “uncle’s friend saw a panther” faint
said “it leapt across the road in a single bound”
i says “since 1901, they’ve been hunted to extinction in this town”
she said that “it must’ve escaped from the zoo grounds!”

hurry we have to
warn the whole complex
lock your doors
and hide your kids and pets

mark was walking griffy down the sidewalk
stopped at my front door
said “hey neighbor we gotta an alarm ordered,
that lady saw a cougar we just heard it growl”
i says “ain’t no mountain lions here, mark. just take a look around!”

3/3

dreaming of alexandria
and how they cooked the books
marbled bodies of greek gods
and how no one even looks
they’re waiting in the break room
i’m disarmingly amused
again

i might skip lunch

2/3

you’re bragging at the water cooler
portfolio busting out the folder
you’ve never felt this cool before
you’re rug pulled in that order
that your standing on..
in the line for firing squads
that’s fun

probably gonna skip lunch

3/3

i crawled out, past the sidewalk
bleed me dry
clocked in for the vampires
keeping me alive
there’s a drawer, with some cash in it
just past the front door
this is why they make me
take the medication for

2/3

point fingertips half baked like “fuck you..
fuck you.. you too, not one of you here is cool”
first to emerge from the boiling heat hella mean
all hit points and nondescript balls of meat
“hey P why won’t you eat with us?”
like their gravity affects my radius?

sleep caught in the corners of my eyes
windows weep with nine to five sighs
i was made for mist not this melancholy

pressed wildflowers in my lunchbox
unclaimed gold on the timeclock
coffee tastes like i have to fucking work..

(4/4)

making hope just another four letter word

#poetry

now they say:
stop making pennies
too inefficient
too expensive
not worth the metal

but that was never the point

it’s not about worth
it’s about hope
and it feels like they’re cutting that too
pressing it out of circulation
like we can’t afford small kindness anymore

(3/4)

maybe to buy a coffee
or just to feel less forgotten
maybe they don’t take it at all
just see it
and remember we’re not all gone

i leave one anyway
when i can
like planting a seed
a mystery
of what might grow

(2/4)