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Feb 19 · 58
NO PRISONERS
they may resent that i appropriate
other people’s lives for this scribble
well this ain’t journalism
there’s no who when where
only OH ****
they may not have noticed
art takes no prisoners
Feb 15 · 31
BEDSIDE
all the young fellas shot
languishing in the hospital
with families bedside
grieving and dealing with it

a young woman bedside
gets off the phone
"they just called me
they’re waiting for him to get out
so they can finish him off"

a  mother bedside
"that boy that just left?
that’s the one who shot him"

a family bedside
as i perform therapy
mom says
"you think we’re trash
don’t you"
Jan 31 · 39
FRANK'S REDHOT
Frank’s RedHot sauce
the duct tape of food
Jan 27 · 36
WHAT A WAY TO GO
pulling the plug on a covid patient
his brother MUST be in the room
"i gotta be there – i GOTTA be there"
he insists on the phone
and even though it’s perilous to be in the room—
when the breathing tube comes out
the patient will be coughing covid in all corners—
the hospital protocol says it’s a-ok
the man can by all means inhale his brother’s deadly breath
BUT  
at 4 pm, the anointed time, he’s not there
we call – "are you coming?"
he’s dead drunk and not going anywhere
MEANWHILE
the patient’s fiancé wants to ZOOM in for the end
we set up a laptop at the foot of the bed
aim it at the poor fellow
and as i pull the tube to send him on his way
there’s SCREECHING from the computer
what the hell are we listening to?
is that martin lawrence and a piercing laugh track?
she’s got her tv BLASTING some old situation comedy
to usher her man into eternity
Jan 23 · 150
KING
i’m king of the astral plane
and if there’s any justice
i mean, there is no justice
but if there WERE any justice
when i kick off
i’d ascend my throne
and spit lightning bolts
at all the other kings
Jan 19 · 32
STRUGGLE
all days are a necessary struggle
caterpillars slithering to wherever
empires striving for dominance
bands thirsting for acclaim
africans thirsting for water
rich people ******* up your money
(it’s zero sum, they NEED you to be broke)
clouds vomiting rain
the sun aching to implode
folks who lost bed and home
hunting warmth for the night
Jan 15 · 43
CHANGING TIMES
when i was a kid, i never imagined
homosexuality would be mainstream
gay marriage would be legal
or a trans person could walk down the street
without being eradicated

on the other hand
the reaction to all that freedom
has conjured an openly-stated longing
for violent fascism

never imagined that either
when i was a kid
Jan 6 · 54
PEOPLE!
"i forgot my ID," i said to the guard
as i tried getting into work
"you should have remembered it"
he snapped
"yes, i agree, but being human
i made a mistake"
he glared
admittedly i do look like a terrorist
"you can call my manager upstairs"
"YOU call the manager"
"uh, ok..."
the manager came down, gave a wave
and escorted me into the building
the poor guard was just doing his job
and ******* about having to do it
"why can't people do what they should
and let me sit here and do nothing?"
hey i can relate
i feel the same way about my job
Dec 2023 · 64
NOISY FELLA
the dirty poet Dec 2023
i’m a tree falling in the forest
with no one around
and i’m loud as ****
Dec 2023 · 78
HERE'S THE NEWS
the dirty poet Dec 2023
netanyahu’s gotta go
putin’s gotta go
trump’s gotta go
but here’s the news
you can scream yourself hoarse
into the online ether
you can march to city hall every day
until your tracks cut to the center of the earth
netanyahu’s got it covered
putin’s staying put
and trump’s riding back on an old brown horse
so let’s sing it together
wah wah wah
the dirty poet Dec 2023
haven’t thought about it in a while
but in a lifetime of wacky decisions
the wildest thing i’ve ever done
was at age 16, my girlfriend 15
we’d ******* a bunch
but i wanted to spend the night together
it was important to me
god knows why
so we made a plan
one night i sat on the couch
watching TV with her mom, dad
her brother and sister
and at 10 pm i said goodnight
but instead of going out the front door
i snuck upstairs to her room
hiding in her closet with a flashlight
and dostoevsky’s house of the dead
no thought of repercussions
which might have ranged from shrieking
to assault to jail to fatality
my mind was focused on one thing only
even more astonishing
from my current advanced perspective
my bladder was entirely tame
no need for any bathroom break
a couple of hours and several chapters later
when the house was silent
i slipped into her bed
mmm, mmm, mmm
at 5 am i skulked down the stairs
and hiked to the diner for a victory breakfast
Dec 2023 · 85
BLACKSTAR
the dirty poet Dec 2023
as i told the boys at my favorite music store
“show me a tube amp for a thousand bucks
something i can plug my les paul into and let it rip
gotta be intense enough to play with drums in a bar unmiked
and i came here early so i can play loud”
walked out with a Blackstar
Nov 2023 · 49
THE WAY OF THE WORLD
the dirty poet Nov 2023
it’s a planet of limitless horror
governments massacring their own populace
neighboring tribes bombing each other to oblivion
school shootings inspiring other school shootings
and on top of all that
italian restaurants and wine
are overpriced and unashamed
someone had to say it
Nov 2023 · 87
SILENT CELEBRATION
the dirty poet Nov 2023
there's only one way to be right
but so many ways to be wrong
you have a lot of freedom
it's entertaining
as long as you keep it to yourself
no repercussions
keeping your mouth shut rules
and if you overcome adversity
you can drink to your great victory
your strength, skill and awesomeness
as long as you don't broadcast it
everyone has a heavy load
everyone's job is a pain in the ***
everyone has to get through the day
nobody wants to hear from you
"that whiner, he thinks he's god's gift"
well maybe you are
you're not a whiner, you're a winner
you can step to your own parade
in silent celebration
Nov 2023 · 266
DEAD KIDS
the dirty poet Nov 2023
another day of israel
digging its own grave
their strategy of dead kids
is a real winner
of course
hamas keeps insisting
it wants to wipe out israel
a handy excuse
for more dead kids
Nov 2023 · 68
MISTAKEN BELIEF
the dirty poet Nov 2023
we make plenty of mistakes in our belief
intellectually we know these things are not true
but a deeper part of our brain is certain they are
we’re going to live forever
we won’t
we’re the same person we were when we were young
we’re not
our employer gives a **** about us
he don’t
our social media activity counts for something
not in the least
the president is more important than the first grade teacher
nope
he’s just some ******* who won the lottery
all these certainties swirling in our brain
gently nudging us over cliffs of absurdity
Nov 2023 · 351
YOU
the dirty poet Nov 2023
YOU
"you are what you pretend to be"
works
because you are not you
"you" are a suit of clothes
that may fit just fine
but you can slip out of it
and as you get older
you might grow out of it
the good news is
you can put on another suit
which might fit just as well
or better
Nov 2023 · 198
SUNDAY
the dirty poet Nov 2023
an optimist calls this a sunny sunday morning
coffee, cats, colson whitehead’s latest
a pessimist ruminates on gaza
the ukraine, sudan, republicans
Oct 2023 · 64
ISRAEL
the dirty poet Oct 2023
we older american jews relate to israel
we were indoctrinated as kids
israel good, nazis bad
israel good, arabs bad
why would those bad arabs attack israel?
the palestinan problem is that they existed
before israel, unless you go back ten million years
and they’re still here to get pounded
israel doesn’t make it easy on the jews either
it’s so insistent on being a jewish state
that saying anti-zionism is not anti-semitism
does not compute
we’re gonna get smashed in righteous fury for eons
for this particular genocidal moment
like we need a new target on our backs
it’s like learning your uncle is a serial killer
you make excuses
you remember his good side
and there was plenty of good
but that dang serial killing…
Oct 2023 · 544
MEMORY
the dirty poet Oct 2023
life is a series of triumphs
every breath is a victory
but we dwell on defeat
we remember the moments
of weakness and incompetence
failure and rejection
the ones who slipped out of the net
not the ones we caught
maybe if we stood upside down
we’d get a clearer view
Oct 2023 · 98
BARGAIN
the dirty poet Oct 2023
all the options compete
for a sliver of my attention
which is split thinner and thinner
but if i’m captured and amused
it’s cool, it’s a good deal
i come out ahead
it’s contended incessantly
that my attention is utterly monetized
subliminally
but i don’t care
i say it’s a bargain
it’s like selling your soul
when you know you don’t have one
Oct 2023 · 91
MAZE
the dirty poet Oct 2023
the hospital is a maze
built in confusing sections
but that’s just the start
the people i deal with
are a maze within a maze
patients, families, nurses, doctors
other respiratory therapists
and superimposed on all this
is another maze
the conundrums i try to solve
a fella fell off a cliff
a jehova’s witness fell off a roof
a 16 year old shot himself in the head
my strategies for keeping them breathing
or not
every one a maze
and i’ll never find my way out
Oct 2023 · 372
YOU SEE, IN HIS WORLD
the dirty poet Oct 2023
the nurse called in security
because the patient was all worked up
about getting discharged

patient:  "if i go home and have another seizure
i’m coming back here and slap everyone"

security:  "you can’t make violent threats, sir"

patient:  "i ain’t making violent threats
i’m just gonna slap’em"
Sep 2023 · 66
GRATITUDE
the dirty poet Sep 2023
just had a patient kiss my hands
for helping her out in the ER
never happened when i gave guitar lessons
though it should have
Sep 2023 · 177
ROUGH AFTERNOON
the dirty poet Sep 2023
level one trauma
woman attacked by two pitbulls
they brought her thumb in a bag
Aug 2023 · 190
CURRENT EVENTS
the dirty poet Aug 2023
it’s a shocker
that earth is still spinning
on its axis
Aug 2023 · 248
BULLSEYE
the dirty poet Aug 2023
if you listen to music you actually enjoy
you win
it’s hard to nail the moment of pleasure
for things that are pleasurable
but a song is a bullseye
Aug 2023 · 194
CHROMOSOMES
the dirty poet Aug 2023
people are chromosomes
so we shouldn’t be surprised
when we act like chromosomes
bivalent bonding
after a couple of drinks
it’s chemistry
Aug 2023 · 95
PENCIL
the dirty poet Aug 2023
he tripped over a pencil
and broke his ankle almost completely in two
he had a single tattoo on his scary belly
a big-busted beauty
"do you smoke and drink?"
"YES!"
"how much do you smoke?"
"PACK A DAY!"
"how much do you drink?"
'TEN DRINKS A DAY!"
"beer?"
"NO!"
he tripped over a pencil
it snuck up on him
Aug 2023 · 383
EMPATHY
the dirty poet Aug 2023
my identity is so slippery
my empathy so complete
(empathy, NOT sympathy)
that i’m not sure who’s me
when strolling a crowded street
Jul 2023 · 70
SHOOTING LESSON
the dirty poet Jul 2023
i think guns are a pandemic in america
but if every ******* has a gun except me
i figured, at minimum, i’d better learn
how to load one without killing myself
the instructor eyeballed my sandals
and said nope
then handed me crocs and a glock
he taught me what i needed to know
and after firing a hundred rounds
i can say that if you ***** with me
your right knee is going down
Jul 2023 · 84
TIME
the dirty poet Jul 2023
how do you tell time?
clock
calendar
school
TV shows
first times--
kiss
laid
driving
drinking
first love
last love
all the pointless jobs
timeline of the children
lifespan of the cats
initial failures of the body
fatal subtraction of loved ones
the creeping ugliness of the mirror
Jul 2023 · 73
SUMMER IN THE CITY
the dirty poet Jul 2023
he was going 110 on his harley
smack into a guardrail
where he left his nose, upper lip and moustache
which they peeled off and took with him
here to the hospital, putting him next to a fella
whose girlfriend tried to shoot him, missed
then stabbed him and tried to bite off his thumb
and they're next to a guy who found out
that shooting yourself in the head
does not make for a pleasant morning
Jul 2023 · 69
CAREER ADVICE
the dirty poet Jul 2023
the showbiz failed in room 63
"you look like you don't like your job"
said mrs. patient
i laughed
"i love my job"
"you don't look like you love your job"
"this job is great"
"i don't believe you
if your job involves other people
you should get another job"
i laughed again
"i will consider it!"
the dirty poet Jul 2023
when politics is pure circus
the clown becomes ringmaster
merrily grabbing voters by the *****
it's the dancing elephant in the room
Jul 2023 · 93
LADIES MAN
the dirty poet Jul 2023
last day before vacation
so you know you gotta pay
an hour left on my shift
the patient was going full linda blair
arched pelvis grinding out of the bed
trying to pummel one and all
but when i came in the room
i triggered something special
YOU ****
i thought her head was gonna spin completely around
she punched me
people straining to hold her back
as she desperately snapped, trying to get a bite of me
GET OUT
GET THE **** OUT OF THE ROOM
as i got the **** out of the room
i explained to the nurses and doctors
i often have this effect on women
Jul 2023 · 696
VACATION
the dirty poet Jul 2023
vacation
out of sight, out of my mind
when i return after a week off
and i enter the hospital where i work
i say oh yeah, this
Jun 2023 · 384
BAG OF MONEY
the dirty poet Jun 2023
i was chaining up my bike
when the woman approached

"excuse me, i don’t need food or money
do you have good eyes?"

"depends
what are we trying to see?"

"i dropped a bag of money down here
do you see it anywhere?"

"THAT i would see
and i don’t see it"

"oh dear
well i do need food and money"

"and when you find that bag
you’ll be all set
have a nice day"
Jun 2023 · 307
PORT
the dirty poet Jun 2023
eventually
all boats spring a leak
and every ship goes down
the ultimate port for each vessel
is the bottom of the sea
May 2023 · 108
THE POETRY FORUM
the dirty poet May 2023
my friend dan, a rare and refined writer
came to pittsburgh for a poetry forum

in hopes of making a splash
he decided to bake a chicken
and bring it to the event
unfortunately he chose a kitchen
in ohio

i never got a piece
May 2023 · 95
ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
the dirty poet May 2023
zombie apocalypse
what better way to process
all these brain dead monsters
murdering total strangers
and third graders
with their advanced weaponry
you can’t go to the supermarket
without fearing you’ll be assassinated
by the walking dead
May 2023 · 69
TRAPPED
the dirty poet May 2023
all these people are trapped on the A train
they look half dead
maybe from the jobs they came from
or the subway
or the lives they’re heading home to
trapped head to toenail
but like all animals in captivity
open the cage door
pull them out
and they’ll hop right back in the cage
and call themselves happy
May 2023 · 86
9/11, 9:03 am
the dirty poet May 2023
you think anyone was looking
out the window of the World Trade Center
9/11, 9:03 am?
she’d see a mammoth jet
zooming directly at her
becoming colossal in a split second
and she wouldn’t believe it
until she did
Apr 2023 · 101
POLITE
the dirty poet Apr 2023
judgmental and uninformed
as enticing as bad teeth
but i would be too polite to point this out
Apr 2023 · 74
REALITY
the dirty poet Apr 2023
we live in a world we do not understand
we navigate the surface
the superficial layer
without a clue as to what lies beneath
doesn’t slow us down much
Apr 2023 · 86
BONANZA
the dirty poet Apr 2023
just got a $1.11/hr raise
the rich get richer!
Mar 2023 · 84
WORLD WAR III
the dirty poet Mar 2023
what’s happening in the Ukraine seems clear to us
but not to much of the world
World War I started because of a global chess game
hard to fathom from today’s perspective
if there are any survivors in the future
they’ll be scratching their heads
about why China/Russia and America
decimated the planet with World War III
Mar 2023 · 58
YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS
the dirty poet Mar 2023
biking to work at 5 a.m. on sunday morning
i see some malevolent ***** on saturday night
has dragged the sign YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS
from the sidewalk to the middle of the road
what was going through this idiot's mind?
"this is gonna be epic
have another beer and let's wait for the crash"
i drag the heavy base and flattened sign
back to the sidewalk
someone did indeed smash into it
but it's still dangerous
if that ******* had half a brain
he'd have seen that the only way to avoid the sign
would be to swerve head-on into the opposite lane
but maybe i'm mistaken about his motivation
maybe that was the point
maybe a car hadn't yielded to this pedestrian
and this is his revenge
"**** the world
starting with the ******* in this car
and all cars"
Mar 2023 · 90
MYSTERY
the dirty poet Mar 2023
what happened?
what will happen?
where are we really?
and the why is a lost cause
why does that man have only one arm?
we will never know
we’re sunk in a swamp of boundless mystery
but we’re rolling fine without any answers
it effects the price of beer
but we’re gonna pay it anyway
Mar 2023 · 94
HIS WAY
the dirty poet Mar 2023
he held a bullet next to his chest with his left hand
with his right he smashed it with a hammer
which is why he’s missing *******
he still has a chest and beating heart though
and glistening red toenails
this fellow does things his way
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