Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Alan Catlin- Three Poems


They seem

so young to
have sensed
the totality
of defeat,

sitting in
waning sun-
light,

sipping Long
Island Ice Teas,

exchanging binding
Hemlock Society
vows,

sisters of
the blood

now that an
unbearable lightness
of being had become
their lives,

their Fate,
sealed by alcohol
and smoke rings

hands linked,

"Since you're
going to hell

I'll come too
and we can
hang out
together."

From where they
were now, there
was no looking back.



Rabid Raccoon 3

Seagram's 7, pure essence of liquid nicotine
splash of 7Up

It's just like in
the movies, you know
the one with those
mise en scene repeated
throughout, slight
variations thrown in
so that you know its
a different day but
the same old same old
only worse, an altered
state of dream sequencing
all the way back to
the 50's, this guy's
Marlboro Bogarted
at the corner of his
mouth, never leaving
the lips 'til the filter
begins to burn or he
bends to use the drink
sipper to drain the first
of five 77's in a half hour,
half a pack smoked,
nary a word spoken
after the initial please
and thank you to your
inquiries and service,
his silences so deep
and intense one of
the customers feels
compelled to ask,
"When he's not
swallowing Canadian
whiskies, what's his
other hobby, serial
killing?"
"I'm not sure but
if I were booking
a room in an isolated
Adirondack Park Hotel
and he's the guy
handing me the register
I'm camping outdoors
no matter what the
weather's like."


 
Brain Storm

11/2 ounce of Irish Whiskey
1 oz Dry Vermouth
liberal dash of Benedictine

From where I was
standing, what he
called having the
constitution of a
horse, nothing phases
me or I can drink
as much as of that
stuff as I want
and not feel a thing,
I've never been drunk
in my life, sounded
like one of those
myths we live by
or like an idea that
got stuck to the fly
paper pasted to
the top of his brain
that wouldn't come
unstuck no matter
how hard you
pulled like I was
now, tugging on his
arms, trying to
motivate his body
into something
like an upright
position so it
could be shuffled
out the door
into a waiting,
obliging vehicle
of conveyance.


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