Driving State Route 641 on a Sunday Evening After the Reopening of Dairy Queen

The pancakes closed down

yesterday I’m not going to be

here forever beer cans blowing in the wind

she wanted rollerblades for her birthday

The peak of depression

The apogee of exhilaration

Ambassador of french fries

Pizza’s worst nightmare

 

We’d take the stairwell

instead of the elevator that’s

all very well but what

do you do in winter

Waiting to inhale

Home for theholidays

The air is just too

thick in this economy

You wanted change

but I kept wearing

the same clothes

for days on end

waxing suicidal

by the fireplace

of all places

Up on the rooftop

there’s still work to

be done we can’t

ignore it we can only

rely on our talents for so long

we can only hope

to get out of the house

it’s not healthy

to go out so much like

it’s going out of style

It’s hard to appreciate all

the levels when you

don’t know the original

Polishing your handgun

before bed sleeping with your

teeth under your pillow

many wholesome activities we can enjoy

Your absence was an inevitability

We are all grappling for meaning

when we really mean it

Your presence was felt everywhere and

not at all

Your career was in free fall there’s

no other way to put it

Of course impermanence never

lasts forever though we’re

certainly counting on it

Immortality never gets old except when

you’re misspelling your own name

It shouldn’t matter either way

Relishing the empty feeling of eating

a hot dog casting aspersions on your

collective bargaining agreement

I’ve lived in so many places all

over the world it’s a one-to-one

correspondence vermouth and

amaretto best friends forever maybe

he has nothing to measure with

Charmingly malignant couscous

is always nice talking

with you wouldn’t even offer

a receipt or your meal’s free

but who has time for that who

has the wherewithal to bear this embroidery

 

Doilies on parade

The declination of definition

Steak sandwich in buffalo

Bison burgers in syracuse

Come equipped for your mechanic

when your car breaks down and

no one can hear your indignation

The upholstery could use an update on the goings on about town


Autobiography of Bed

I don’t think I ever got the whole story

he lost his corduroy trousers in the amazon

devoured the entire lake festooned on

heroin overturned the buffet table

on the way to the dmv was that it.

 

The thesaurus was merciless last

night the brontosaurus represented himself

in court he was his own worst enemy.

This headband is one of a kind he

claimed you’ll never find another one like it.

 

Some people fall asleep with the tv on

some fall asleep with their pajamas

half awake their dreams inside out and their

pajamas over their headshalfway to bogota.

 

They must apologize for the lack of human

rights I have a weak constitution you must

excuse me haven’t had a smoothie in a week.

It’s only when you get a haircutin a foreign

language that you realize you’re truly hooked.

 

Fell asleep on the way to the car again couldn’t

remember where I was parked was justthinking

aloud in the park aren’t we forgetting something.

n8 heneghan

n8 heneghan is an independent scholar, poet, playwright, and punk rock drummer based in Seattle, WA. He received his PhD from the University of Southern California and has taught Japanese literature and culture at various institutions across the country. He plays in a band you’ve never heard of.