late autumn
cold enough to
turn a breath visible
he leaned against the
rail of the bridge
and watched the
river run
below him
and imagined he was in a
spaceship
hovering above the land
Smiling
he said, "Yes, I'll be there one
day, brother. I'll pick you
up with the spaceship we wanted
to build together. I'll
put it together and then–"
and just then a pair of
hands grabbed him
from behind and pulled him apart from
the rail. "All right now," said
the nurse, "let's not get
carried away again."
He startled. "I wasn't going
to jump this time. I swear."
"I believe you," said the nurse. "But
let's just leave now. Let's get
back. I'm cold and
I'm sure you're hungry too and
we could get a cup of
hot chocolate. How about it?"
"I wasn't going
to jump," he said.
She held his hand. "I know. I know, dear.
Come now. Let's get back."
"I wasn't going
to jump."
She dragged him away from the
rail and held his
hand all the way back
to what she called the friendly house.
Ol’ Bloody Brush
the old man stank but he stank more of booze and cheap tobacco than filth his mouth missed a lot of teeth and his eyes would never look in the same direction at once but worst of all were his hands Now those were really messed up He claimed he had paint tanks under his nails and he wasn’t lying he was mad but not a liar He could paint wherever he was on any surface And he did pressing the stump of his fingers against walls and furniture triggered immediate bleeding and then he would trace on and draw something Usually a penis or some hairy cunt or some silhouettes fucking or something like that Then he’d step back admire his creation and laugh and suck at his bloody fingers Ol’ Bloody Brush was a celebrity around the block He never had to buy a drink for himself There was always someone to treat him, an admirer a fan, a disciple Yeah, at 66 Ol’ Bloody Brush was living the life unlike other wannabe artists who devoted their existence to the craft and got nowhere These guys, they had the talent and the drive but Ol’ Bloody Brush, he had the madness and the world was coming to learn the difference
smart dead man
In the afterlife the creatures that
gathered around him
asked, “Why did you do it? Why
did you jump in
front of that train?”
He shrugged. “Life wasn’t
worth living anymore. And I wanted
revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“Yes, revenge.”
“On whom?”
“On the man driving the train, obviously.
My wife was divorcing
me, a lawyer, to be with a
locomotive engineer. Can you believe that?
So I had to do
something about it. I jumped in
front of his train
and now he’s got PTSD, depression,
he’s about to lose his job,
my wife has second thoughts
about being with him. His life’s nasty, alright.”
“Woah... you’re a smart man.”
another bulimic princess
mashed potatoes
poached eggs
beans
and some homemade garlic sauce
but no meat for the
princess's sensitive stomach
"I'm full," she said
"No, you are not," said mother. "Eat up. Finish
everything from your plate
and trust me, it's been calculated. It's
the right amount. Now eat up."
Father agreed. Being a step-father he
didn't have much of a say in this
matter or any other
It took the princess another twenty
minutes to finish the
food from her plate
and then stood
and went to the bathroom but
it wouldn't be that simple. Mother had to go in
with her
And she did
and both of them came out and
the princess went to her
room
and mother started cleaning the table
always just one step away from
bursting into tears
which gave her new husband some work
with emotional support and all
A princess doesn't steal
but this was a desperate princess
she locked the door to her room
and pulled out from under her
shirt the
roll of plastic bags
took one
opened it
sat on the bed leaning forward
elbows on knees
face before the bag
and she didn't even have to
put the fingers in her mouth
the vomit just came
every bit of mashed potatoes
and poached eggs and every pea
and the homemade garlic sauce
She tied the bag
it felt very warm in her hands
placed it under her bed
got her phone and sent a text
in twenty-something minutes
he was under her window
and she threw him the bag of vomit
and he walked away with it
carried it to a trash bin far from her home
He was such a sweet guy for
doing all this for her
He was her prince
Except he still kept his frog form
even after all the kisses and blowjobs
after school
but well,
when you're desperate...
Daydreaming as a profession 