Dickheads
two ugly
young men
seated in
the car
next to me
in the parking lot
of Dick’s
Sporting Goods
rock out to a
Limp Bizkit song
from the late 90s,
two banal bearded
northern roughnecks
who I’d hate
to fuck with, but
they embarrass
me so much,
if they were to
kick my ass,
I would laugh
at them both
the whole time.
Earth Day
It’s Earth Day,
a squirrel says to me
with a nutshell in his hands
from a low branch
in the shade
of a guava tree,
it’s dead leaves gone.
I wish the squirrel
Happy Earth Day.
He tells me it will be
due to his large nuts
and that’s when I ask him
why is it that he can talk?
He disappears into the tree
without answering me
while I glance into my cup
to see if there’s more
in there than just coffee.
Kevin Ridgeway’s books include “Too Young to Know” (Stubborn Mule Press) and “Invasion of the Shadow People” (Luchador Press). His work has appeared in The Paterson Literary Review, Slipstream, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Main Street Rag, San Pedro River Review, Spillway and The American Journal of Poetry, among others. He lives and writes in Long Beach, CA.
All rights © Kevin Ridgeway
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