down by the river
under the main street bridge
& the one blocking the way has a baseball bat,
spits in your face,
says he thinks you're a faggot,
says you should probably get down on your knees
and prove him right,
and this could be the fall of ‘75
or it could be summer ‘87
or it could be anywhere in between
high times in whatever
shithole town you grew up in
the past irrelevant and
the future always shaped by
the inbred glory of
ignorance & power
something to think about later,
once you're out of the hospital
~~
John Sweet sends greetings from the rural wastelands of upstate NY. He is a firm believer in writing as catharsis, and in compassionate nihilism. His poetry collections include NO ONE STARVES IN A NATION OF CORPSES (2020 Analog Submission Press) and NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU (2024 Apathy Press Poets).
