father ****** your sister,
as it goes, as it always goes
and mom is out running errands,
spending that hard earned dollar
on white bread & fruit juice
that’ll just go bad in the cupboard

yellow tv static fills the room
& you’ve always hated those
glasses of milk, half-empty
lying about the house
like they were occupying
a foreign country at war

jack is in the shower,
touching himself, crying
‘cause no one ever holds him
or told him it was okay to do that
this **** will stick with him
for decades, at the least

tuesday night, mid-summer
your best friend is on line,
******* about that new pair
of jeans, the ones that ripped
right open, just yesterday
when she tripped & fell


the neighbor is whining to his mistress
something about his lonely wife
meanwhile she’s somewhere else,
cashing his checks,going to
buy herself something pretty
just to make herself feel right


*& you, glued to the couch
watching the wall, praying
for telekinesis, hoping that
if you stare long enough,
it might give way & let
you out of this box