Sweetie,
Don’t look at the fat, disheveled
guy behind the curtain…
Unkempt.
Unshaven.
Standing in the used fiction section,
looking for bargain stories to
keep his dwindling mind
amused…
He is just an additional hack, hoping to
touch a soft spot in one soul…
Avoiding calendars, late middle age
cadence.
Refuse to talk to him, pushing his
crap to expand your junior year
reading list.
Just another poet, with marbles and
flowers falling out of his pocket.
Pants too tight, shirt ripped
around the sleeve.
Self-absorbed in obtuse
trials and tribulations.
No, honey.
Put down that book.
Adjust your hair.
Laugh with your friend while
he makes his way out of the store.
Scratching his ass as he leaves.
Dan Provost’s poetry has been published throughout the small press for a number of years. He is the author of fourteen books/chapbooks including: A Fistful of Ponies (Raw Earth Ink) and Darting in and Out (Kung Fu Treachery Press) which were published in early 2021.He lives in Berlin, New Hampshire with his wife Laura and dog, Bella.