LInda J Washington

linda j washington
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I say I am not materialistic
this is code
It means I am unattached
to blood or steel
or plots of grass

White picket fences
peel after a few years
and the scraping takes time
I would use in other ways

I guess that makes my landlord
a pimp
He takes my money
so i can't be owned outright
providing me protection
if i walk away

I always leave
with one suitcase
and the money left
tossed on the dresser

sucker punch

It happened at a meeting, bunch of has-beens and burnouts
Gathered like hens clucking at Frank Perdue at the mike
Pecking at the preacher’s mouth for worms of salvation
He said he saw me and there was a flash of light around me
I’m thinking crackheads detox in technicolor Kirlian flashbacks
And maybe I was just at the right place at the right time

He’s thinking love is a styrofoam cup of lukewarm coffee
Staring at blue eyes that don’t blink for anyone anymore
Hearing the madness that was my life and coming back for more
These aren’t war stories baby, I’m all fucked up like the rest
This is honesty in a bowling bag and you want to carry it?

Strap four kids from addict fathers on your back and genuflect
There ain’t nothing beautiful behind these crumbling walls
The wrecking ball took it all and the place next door
I exhaled what didn’t get sucked out of me
So when you looked at me and said I took your breath away
I’m thinking once you doubled over and stood back up
You’d be smart enough to know a sucker punch

small things

through the roof
the stagnant horizon
dull silence
and inevitably
it's most likely
the world's letting
time slip through
into rehearsal

the pain maybe is
that there's really
not much wrong in
your life
(small things)
still your head throbs
you keep banging
into nothing until
it becomes impossible
just to walk through
a room, rise
to an occasion

just next year
you'll meet the
same hour
the same boy you
never talked to
the same ring
you lost when you
were careless

now the eyes
begin to squint
you avoid looking at
the overhead lights
and move toward
the unlocked door
somewhere nearby
a lost dog barks
the night still moves
the sun rises again