Shall I compare thee
Pizza
To your companion who
rejects the delights of pineapple
Thou art more delicious and sweet

r
   a
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e

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n    
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                   w

                                                         b               c
                                                            o  ­                 r
                                                               ­ r                         y
                                                          n    ­                    s
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She was in love with her captor,
had the appetite of a raptor,
sharp talons slash her deep,
no way up it's much to steep.

I stopped and watched her,
as she eased to the edge,
wondering if she would jump,
my throat tightened into a lump.

Pain is a game,
that is always won,
shame is the same,
each and every one.

Red velvet tears
her face now stained,
syrupy sweet
but so full of pain.

She dressed up like a
***** just to go to the
bank.
And she ****** like
one too—drunk on
cheap wine—mascara smeared all
over her face.
I took her in every
****** position there is—we even
invented a few.
She had the most beautiful
mahogany eyes—they said
so much. Her smile made
my **** salute.
From dusk till dawn
we ****** until we
collapsed into each others arms;
warm and safe and spent like
the sun.
**** tomorrow,
may it never come.

I remember Valentines Day
16 years ago.
I was staying at
the Salvation Army in
Des Moines.I was
going through a divorce
and trying not to drink.
I was competing in poetry slams
at Java Joe's downtown.
That little stage kept me sane.
Some of the guys at the Sally
asked me to write love poems
for their girlfriends- to get them laid.
I told them in order for the poetry
to not sound contrived, I might
need to spend a night or two
with their women.
They didn't think that was funny.
I wasn't kidding.
I ended up writing a decent
poem about the irony of the whole situation.

Well, it's February 2019,
and I'm in prison for drinking.
No romantic Valentine's Day this
year; but still plenty of irony.
Even in the joint, guys ask me
to write love poems for their women.
The other day, I did write
a poem for a guy's wife who is
dying of cancer.
I hope some day soon,
he gives it to her.