poem for the ex-ex-girlfriend of the OD victim
by Timothy Gager
yo hon
you are a product
of this crumble, you are
a pepper-sprayed dove seeking flight, you are
cutting corners with a plastic knife, you are pumping
the oil of denial that's thicker than the truth, same as that
yellow happy face misled, tricked, trampled, you trumpeted without triumph,
with the contagion of saccharine, addictive muscle memory of sweetness,
the phony widow married to the way you reached acceptance-—a lie,
your street smarts were a violation like busting a virgin's cherry,
a boo-hooed pristine field of snow, in the meadow, reality
is the footprints, with shit in their indentations, you are
nothing that the world of vastness cannot smell
like bad karma caught in a pretty little package,
a trash bag, all tied up into this: yo hon
he's dead now but recently
told people you were
a fucking bitch.
Timothy Gager is the author of seven books of short fiction and poetry. He is widely published in print and on the web. He lives on www.timothygager.com.