Lunch rush was hell for the new girl,
stacking foamed cappuccino cups
and stirring spoons in a broken-handled
bus tub while trying not to slip
on soft ice and discarded lemon
wedges. She took our mugs,
and told us about a guy

—Dave, she said. I don't know.—who sat
with his friend, comparing *** to work
over the rusted cabinet tracks
of his warped fork scraping
his egg-caked plate.
Dave's friend was leaned in
with a cocked grin waiting
for one of Dave's "Classic Dave" punchlines,

which I'm guessing are all witty,
the funniest *******
things you've ever heard,
but there wasn't one
this time

because there's nothing funny about
a ***** intern cringing beneath the weight
of fat Dave and his brick
paperweight jammed in her back.

dreaming away the night, one more pleasure, it feels like something relaxing while I am awake is better than sleep itself, because in my dreams I am always stressed out, running from something, trying to find someone,

my diet has been strange, I only eat when it gets late, something about the late night makes my stomach relax

maybe I really am a vampire

I wrote a few of them down, the Muskrat, now it all seems like a big joke, I kept a few of the ones that I thought were pretty good, kept about 20, wrote almost 200, mania driving my mind away, or maybe I'm destined to dig fast all my life, I'm not really sure at this point

thursday came  and it was autumn again
green ran to where summer went
yellow and crimson orange grey
covered the world in colder winds
midday on thursday that day of bitterness
the sun burst through  intermittently
making autumn look beautiful
and down fluttered
the prettiest gold leaf
landed right beside me
said hello
I stuttered but
a leaf is mute
the tree that sent her to me said
no,
you are just out of tune.
Keeping time with
the old tree I rhymed
anew heard rhythm  
playing on autumns breeze.
I woke up then to
see, I had fallen fast asleep and it was winter.