It’s A Lifestyle

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.