A dear friend

was missing two Netflix movies,

she looked everywhere

on the computer table

the television stand

bookshelves

cutting table,

sorted through stacks of

books

magazines

papers

fabric,

finally gave up in despair,

wondering what

the replacement cost would be,

she told me all about it at lunch,

later that day

when she called to tell me

they’d just arrived in the mail,

I couldn’t find the phone.

Baroque Osmosis

I’ve written elsewhere

about sleeping

most nights

with poetry books

and poetry magazines

scattered across my bed,

books I like,

Bukowski mostly

and magazines I like

The New York Quarterly

Askew

Rattle

Beyond Baroque

and so many more,

I sleep with them,

with osmosis dreams,

wistfully hoping

something there

might subconsciously

enter my mind

and inspire me,

but one night

I awoke with a start,

in a cold sweat,

short of breath,

seized by a moment of panic,

and thrashing about

I discovered something

terrifying

lurking under the others -

a self-published book

by a bland and lifeless poet,

and Kurtz said it first,

but I say it here,

my god,

the horror,

the horror.

————

Paul Hellweg has felt his whole life as if he didn’t fit in. Then a few months ago he discovered a new world of kindred spirits in the poetry universe, both online and at readings throughout the Los Angeles area. He’s thrilled to have finally found a place where he fits in just fine, sober or otherwise.

Lonely

and wishing for a miracle,

it finally came

in the form

of an e-mail

from a 24-year-old woman

with 8.5 million dollars

who offered to

move in with me

if I would help her

transfer the funds

to this country,

and

all I had to do

to get the money

and the babe

was to be

a little more

gullible

than

I already am.

You’ve Got Mail

are words full of life

and hope and

approbation,

alas,

No New Messages

keeps showing up

on my e-mail server,

and I doubt that

anyone will be beating

a path to my door

for the movie rights.

———–

Paul Hellweg has felt his whole life as if he didn’t fit in. Then a few months ago he discovered a new world of kindred spirits in the poetry universe, both online and at readings throughout the Los Angeles area. He’s thrilled to have finally found a place where he fits in just fine, sober or otherwise.