To the Girl Who Didn’t Buy my Book by Dan Provost

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.

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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.