Scott Wozniak- Three Poems

Scott Wozniak is a poet, short story writer and chaos enthusiast who's works can be found both online and in print. He is currently putting the finishing touches on a graphic book of poems he hopes to find a publisher for. To help with that goal or for more info please visit about.me/swozniak.

Family Values Paying Off                                                                   

 

We spotted

One another

from a distance.

He was holding

a sign

that read

the usual

laundry list

of lies--

“anything helps,”

“homeless vet,”

“will work for…”

“God Bless.”

 

My sign read,

“I smell,

I’m broke,

everybody

hates me.

I just want

to get drunk

and high,

spare a dime?”

 

The beer

in my hand,

(and not his)

was proof

that honesty

really is

the best

policy.

Patron Saint

He asked

for change.

I handed him

a bag of dope.

Thank-you’s fell

from his mouth

like Hail-Mary’s

from a sinner.

 

He gathered

his backpack

from the sidewalk,

and told me

I was a savior,

then hurried off

to inject

Amazing Grace.

 

I kept walking

on my way

to do

the same,

wondering

if Catholics have

a patron saint

of dope fiends?

 

God knows

we need one,

even if the church

doesn’t.

The Night I Met the Baddest Man in The Whole Damn Town

 

I wandered in a blues bar

on Chicago’s South side

and wound up celebrating

“Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’s”

Ninetieth Birthday  

with the legend

and his extended family

of aging Hustlers,

Pimps, Hos,

and Gangsters.

 

As he sat in a wheel-chair,

I shook his hand, thinking

to myself, “He don’t look

badder than King Kong

or meaner than a junkyard dog,

I could take this guy, even if

there’s a razor in his shoe.

What a story it’ll make,

nevermind the details.”

 

The rest is history,

my memory wiped clean

like a bookies missing ledger.