10-10
off duty
stetson
interwoven with those
tobacco threads
of your midnight la-z-boy
melodious memories
orchestrated
for eleven years
through tinges
of reds and blues
it was a time
before I knew
about papercuts
and latex
and that sharpie doesn’t stay
on oily surfaces
even though it says
permanent
now I can’t bear the thought of
dominos breadsticks
police badges
toy guitars
that mustard crewneck
and stale cigarettes
lingering in the air
long after the last
person that smoked them
has died from the miasmic tar
drowsing in their lungs
I can’t bear the thought of
Lá Fhéile Pádraig
and shamrocks
and green
and green
and green
straight lines
impersonating talons
clenching and constricting
my chest
like the pacemaker
rattled yours
until your
last-
breath
