everybody in the city is talking about the weather
the dusty sky
how the entire city smells of housecat
how no rain has rained in weeks and weeks
no rain to settle the dust
wash away the sprayings
everybody in the city is talking about the forests
how if it doesn’t rain soon the woods will surely burn
nobody in the city is talking about the war
(Published in 580 Split, Issue 12, 2010; copyright 2023 by Tetman Callis.)
some say it’s no fun being a junkie but
it does give one a certain raison d’etre
a reason for getting up in the morning
or the evening or the afternoon or whenever one
happens to be getting up in the middle of the night
the hours to be up and at ‘em
up and at the walls
scratching and pounding
up and at the doors
kicking them open
kicking them closed
up and at the windows
staring through a ghostly reflected face
up and at the telephone
calling the special friend
i’m sorry i woke you but please can i come over right now please
some say the nicest thing about being a junkie
is everything is crystal-clear
all superfluities sloughed off
all distractions burned away in the cold heat of need
it leaves a body terrifically focused
(Copyright 2023 by Tetman Callis.)
“Remedies certainly exist for all curses, but no remedy can avail those cursed by their mother!” – The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Vol. I, Astika Parva of the Adi Parva, trans. Pratap Chandra Roy