i watch as a couple argues
over which flavor of ramen
to serve their kids that evening
as they throw a case of cheap beer
into their shopping cart
i think to myself
is this what passes
for polite dinner conversation these days?
but i've been there
so i eat my own words
before they ever leave my throat
just wishing i had something
to wash them down with
one glass bottle of pepsi cola
from the fields of mexico
where they are starving
for poetry
i run my fingers
across the border
of your lips
ask nothing
and get exactly that
at 35
phil ochs hung himself
in far rockaway
the charge of war
still raging in his heart
and i can't even string together
a few words
to take the place
of broken christmas lights
that once
led us
home
John Dorsey is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), and Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
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