the economics lesson
is free unless you fail and then I take your teeth so listen lad in 1776 america was born fuck philly’s bogus bell and bow to adam smith the wealth of nations’ invisible ineluctable hand that’s raised in benediction for the worthy and slapped you to that gutter you see my forefathers founded clapboard churches and god smiled and made it rain holy green so I earned mine fortune favors the faithful and the faithless writhe so I clasp these hallelujah hands and avoid the unclean which means I will not help or hit you my foot will do the work now grab your bootstraps boy and yank yourself respectable before I stamp your shame I’ll wear my cross and you’ll wear your caste in your shattered grimace dental care is for winners
Stairs Don’t Care
Stairs balk at talk -
they’ve seen too much -
life’s ups and downs,
babies’ frowns.
Knocked out teeth
beneath the heath.
Teenagers stealing
up the stairs
into their lairs,
they got their kicks
before parents caught
them in their tricks.
Dirty secrets
ground into stairs.
Teddy bears
falling down.
Scary clowns
waiting there,
stairs don’t care
they don’t talk,
holding up
all that weight,
tempting fate
of sorrows, cares,
sordid stares,
ragged socks
worn by jocks.
Stairs too slick
to talk at all.
But listen with care
you’ll hear the stair
whisper with flair
into cool night air
while broken teeth
lie battered there.
gem
they're pearls.
shiny
glass vases
filled
with
ground stars
and
antique jewlery
composed of curves
blinding
reflecting sunlight
crushed inside
a dull
shell
that protects
but disguises
their
beauty
a swift kick to the mouth.
a *crunch*.
now, rubies.
glittering liquid
trickles
streams
down
the
crisp
incisions
on your
chin
slight sparks
strands of
pink
luminous filaments
white dust
that sparkles
now
revealed
nothing can murder your prettiness.
No Satisfaction
If I couldn't jump off a bridge
I would dive head first
Whistling
On the way down
Where is my protector
My fears are under pressure
Suffocating
Alone in trepidation
"Choke her by the neck
Kick in her teeth
Watching
While you reap satisfaction"
My hands cannot touch her
Neither will my feet
Emulating
Would mean certain defeat
He Told Me I Was Nothing
He told me I was nothing
And I told him he was wrong
He tried to run but I chased him
To tell him we were done
He said I would never amount to anything
That I should stop trying and end it now
So I punched him in the face
And he fell right to the ground.
He said to stop and I tried but couldn't.
I kicked his teeth in
He stopped breathing
And I kept going.
I started running.
Stomp
The first rule is you don't talk about it.
There is a first snap
like ripe fruit
beneath my boot
before the mouth flaps.
Tiny white imperfect munchers
break inward, arrows pointing
down a screaming throat
streaming with blood.
Inside of every man rages
a beast pacing a cage waiting to
break free and maul the world
to pieces.
This is where we let them loose
to fight like dirty dogs, cock fights
in a pit dark as pitch, vortexing
with the ugly thoughts we chain daily.
And so I crank back my leg again,
a child endlessly kicking a ball that
cracks back with flying
teeth and spit and dirt and blood.
Rules of the Dojo
1. If you can’t say something nice,
don’t say anything at all.
2. For every non-nice word you say,
you receive a warning
in the form of one hundred pushups.
3. After three warnings, and for every
non-nice word thereafter,
you get a tooth removed by the sensei,
dropkick style.
Disclaimer: The Dojo cannot be held responsible for the particular aim or lack thereof of the sensei. All dental and/or medical expenses are solely the responsibility of the wayward student.