Jeff Weddle
Jeff Weddle is a poet, short story writer and small press historian living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Among his thirteen books are the Welty Prize winning Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press (University Press of Mississippi, 2007), When Giraffes Flew: Short Stories (Southern Yellow Pine, 2015), and poetry collections Comes to This (Nixes Mate, 2017) Heart of the Broken World (Nixes Mate, 2017) Citizen Relent (Unlikely Books, 2019), A Puncher’s Chance (Rust Belt Press, 2019) and others. His most recent volume is Advice for Cannibals (Poetic Justice Books, 2022).
like silly promises
of love and always
in the vast and hungry
empty
burning night.
the people arguing
and the people asleep on benches
and some saw it coming
and thought they could fix things or hide
maybe escape
Keep it close
to the bone, boy.
Keep the blade busy.
You were never
going to be their darling
so what have you got to lose?