the flickering tail light dry
by Joseph Linscott
the flickering tail light dry heaving bathroom beer runs watering hole singalongs you realize are karaoke only only wish to fit the dancefloor too low too old you feel it in your bones too old howd they get so old howd i get this way whose speaker on the phone yelling for the wish to come true flickering red glare eyes hold tight the watermark fades enough to show the signs the signs o the time oh the time she spoke the red glare glistens off the skin the skin a crackled matted matte ambush nausea hostile wanted tracers of a violent hopeful whats the point to make the taut skin rest watering down my sights of pleasure pained into the game we spoke about over coffee until our fathers drew our interest away from minnesota and backed into the chrysler lebaron your uncle took us on rides in so he could smoke cigarettes away from your grandmother and we could get a glimpse at the world and the freedom we hoped to be imposed upon when older but then we look at our hands and the wrinkles and blemishes in our reflections of the window think that the world imposed upon the water you spelt your name in a stream of rocks swaying hoping has would has been not made you what you want to be
the flickering tail light dry your eyes in the heavy bottomed pants you wore as a child
the flickering tail light dry skin flakes into the wavering pieces of thoughts unknown child missing found in your town whos to know whose washer is this whose note is found in the hand of a child you wanted to be you disliked so much knowing you couldnt knowing they did it on purpose when you sit at the toilet seat summoning your gods for revival you wouldnt dare follow the leader ducking weaving goosing
the flicking tail light dry made of broken bones splintered chest the fall impacted loss into the hairline waiting trespassing onto foreign land to consider damning the world to hell while we wait in the purgatory of your uncles rundown car that smells of gasoline and cigarettes your grandmothers best dress moth eaten withered eyes forgotten smiles
hidden drugs under the seat he forgot about and killed cigarettes we smoked in bed she died in her sleep upon
the flickering tail light dry wave of sudden anger fuming sockets locked in grips of mighty earthen tones your mothers pies drew the whole neighborhood
the flickering tail light dry break break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed wake up relax with the things you put off at home go to bed never wake up
the flickering tail light dry mind in spaces away from what its not to be done hope ghost ghosting the party chances plucked into ether dreams dreaming in shapes you witnessed with the smell of cigarettes and burnt hair eyes bind the fates of time
the flickering tail light dry fucked out of the house she grew up in
the flickering tail light dry shitting the bed
the flickering tail light dry i heard teachers practicing preaching the ways of good citizenship broken pencil slips of paper passed between hands into hearts of hopeful tomorrows for children looking for moments of excitement in a rather dull surrounding of work and drought and draughts causing daddy to stagger home in the cold with mommys warm words of anger to lick his wounds heavy eyed in the morning homework not done notes passed between hands not your own wondering if daddy got lost in the cold
the flickering tail light dry wake up in the glaring street light breaking and entering your brother did hard time two months upstate for a crime he did commit said as much to me to the judge to his lawyer to his high school classmates ten weeks later during his reunion spiked the punch got drunk ran a red got caught cop not at reunion let him go hometown heros journey from the underbelly warrant warranting arrest arrested by the images the walls at home at school at church waiting for the savior waiting for the redemption forgive me father for i have forgive me father for i have not forgave given the wine of christ as mixer for the vodka sold under the counter when you lost the championship the street lights shut off by the town not enough money enough money for the council members to drink their drinks get served by you you the one to remember the town managers crimes of passion in high school against your uncle already a solid smoker already with assprints in the drivers side of the lebaron already out too much to know whats going on in british literature who needs english says the men who hear their punishments standing next to in their finest suit lent to them by a cousin who manages the grocery store next to english majors who decided to enter the system and feel the cigarette smell fade into the procession hall junkies of a reunited families in carports in the rain with too thin jackets shivering the autumn night of a release that came earlier
the flickering tail light dry the driveway wanderer sending bodies to the morgue determined to mask the intent with hope muse shackles tighter than tighter regardless of intent with hope fills the journey’s end
the flickering tail light dry flashes in the eyes of a child trying for bed trying to be the goody two shoes in school to make mommy and daddy proud wondering what would happen if he gets lost in the cold no way home
the flickering tail light dry heaving bathroom beer runs watering hole singalongs you realize are karaoke only only wish to fit the dancefloor too low too old you feel it in your bones too old howd they get so old howd i get this way whose speaker on the phone yelling for the wish to come true flickering red glare eyes hold tight the watermark fades enough to show the signs the signs o the time oh the time she spoke the red glare glistens off the skin the skin a crackled matted matte ambush nausea hostile wanted tracers of a violent hopeful whats the point to make the taut skin rest watering down my sights of pleasure pained into the game we spoke about over coffee until our fathers drew our interest away from minnesota and backed into the chrysler lebaron your uncle took us on rides in so he could smoke cigarettes away from your grandmother and we could get a glimpse at the world and the freedom we hoped to be imposed upon when older but then we look at our hands and the wrinkles and blemishes in our reflections of the window think that the world imposed upon the water you spelt your name in a stream of rocks swaying hoping has would has been not made you what you want to be
the flickering tail light dry your eyes in the heavy bottomed pants you wore as a child
the flickering tail light dry skin flakes into the wavering pieces of thoughts unknown child missing found in your town whos to know whose washer is this whose note is found in the hand of a child you wanted to be you disliked so much knowing you couldnt knowing they did it on purpose when you sit at the toilet seat summoning your gods for revival you wouldnt dare follow the leader ducking weaving goosing
the flicking tail light dry made of broken bones splintered chest the fall impacted loss into the hairline waiting trespassing onto foreign land to consider damning the world to hell while we wait in the purgatory of your uncles rundown car that smells of gasoline and cigarettes your grandmothers best dress moth eaten withered eyes forgotten smiles
hidden drugs under the seat he forgot about and killed cigarettes we smoked in bed she died in her sleep upon
the flickering tail light dry wave of sudden anger fuming sockets locked in grips of mighty earthen tones your mothers pies drew the whole neighborhood
the flickering tail light dry break break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed break your back under a goddamned sun that doesnt care for you or yours smother your plate in gravy salt pepper wash it down with a tylenol and water go to bed wake up relax with the things you put off at home go to bed never wake up
the flickering tail light dry mind in spaces away from what its not to be done hope ghost ghosting the party chances plucked into ether dreams dreaming in shapes you witnessed with the smell of cigarettes and burnt hair eyes bind the fates of time
the flickering tail light dry fucked out of the house she grew up in
the flickering tail light dry shitting the bed
the flickering tail light dry i heard teachers practicing preaching the ways of good citizenship broken pencil slips of paper passed between hands into hearts of hopeful tomorrows for children looking for moments of excitement in a rather dull surrounding of work and drought and draughts causing daddy to stagger home in the cold with mommys warm words of anger to lick his wounds heavy eyed in the morning homework not done notes passed between hands not your own wondering if daddy got lost in the cold
the flickering tail light dry wake up in the glaring street light breaking and entering your brother did hard time two months upstate for a crime he did commit said as much to me to the judge to his lawyer to his high school classmates ten weeks later during his reunion spiked the punch got drunk ran a red got caught cop not at reunion let him go hometown heros journey from the underbelly warrant warranting arrest arrested by the images the walls at home at school at church waiting for the savior waiting for the redemption forgive me father for i have forgive me father for i have not forgave given the wine of christ as mixer for the vodka sold under the counter when you lost the championship the street lights shut off by the town not enough money enough money for the council members to drink their drinks get served by you you the one to remember the town managers crimes of passion in high school against your uncle already a solid smoker already with assprints in the drivers side of the lebaron already out too much to know whats going on in british literature who needs english says the men who hear their punishments standing next to in their finest suit lent to them by a cousin who manages the grocery store next to english majors who decided to enter the system and feel the cigarette smell fade into the procession hall junkies of a reunited families in carports in the rain with too thin jackets shivering the autumn night of a release that came earlier
the flickering tail light dry the driveway wanderer sending bodies to the morgue determined to mask the intent with hope muse shackles tighter than tighter regardless of intent with hope fills the journey’s end
the flickering tail light dry flashes in the eyes of a child trying for bed trying to be the goody two shoes in school to make mommy and daddy proud wondering what would happen if he gets lost in the cold no way home