On the construction site,
I dropped a shoulder of 2X4s.
While retrieving the planks,
I cursed the sky and the job.
An older guy barked at me,
‘This ****’s better than jail.’
His wisdom taught me
there are two prisons:
one with and one without
visible steel bars.

—Ron Gavalik

A terrible lover is similar
to a terrible piece of chicken.
You can choke it down
as expected, or cast
the remnants away
and move on.
Neither option is ideal,
but only one
is grounded in truth.

—Ron Gavalik

The night went on
as the madness kept coming.
There was nothing
I could do
to stop it.
Eyes closed,
I prayed long and hard
for the dawn.

—Ron Gavalik

I’ve never preferred turkey.
That bland taste is the reminder
of the bland jobs and the lovers
with bland imaginations.
When we give thanks,
I bow my head in reverence
for the perpetual fight.
That dash of ferment
snatches a glimmer of life
from the march toward
our insipid decline.

—Ron Gavalik

There was a time
when the sight of your lips
made me want to **** you
inside bar bathrooms
and atop the kitchen counter.
Those days are now gone,
and I no longer have any desire
to own you. There is nothing
remaining inside to give or say.
So I will walk away
alone, upon tired sidewalks
to never love again.

—Ron Gavalik

An older woman at the bar,
danced alone near the jukebox.
Eyes closed, she swayed her hips
to some kind of old school jazz.
Cigarette smoke hovered around her
on the makeshift dance floor.
The smoke contoured to her body,
it clung to her reckless past.
The chain-smoking drunkards
hollered and giggled as cowards.
One of them would **** her
before the night ended.
All I could do was watch
and write this poem
in my mind.

-Ron Gavalik

After the most abhorrent violence,
during times of misery and sorrow,
a wise man will sit in a dark room
and reflect on his truths.
In rage, he will curl his fingers
into the tightest fists.
In sadness, he will weep
for all that has been lost.
In his chair, the wise man will drink
his whiskey, and then he will stand up
and fight back against the hate.

-Ron Gavalik