Absence

The problem with woman

is that they take you away

from art

and the problem with art

is that it takes you away

from woman

and the problem with both

is that if done right,

they are objects

that feed each other

like a snake biting

its own tail

because it’s

addicted to the hallucination

of its poison –

art in woman

and woman in art.

Both are master pieces.

*

My father’s father

died a mean, young

bull buoyed by booze

because he saw hope

reflecting in glass

and sacrifice refracting off

his son’s back,

and martyrdom needs to

be stomped

and whipped

and punched out

by any means necessary.

*

There’s nothing worse than

losing your job,

unless it’s not having one

and not knowing what it means

to lose anything.

Absence is everything.