Howie Good

The F Word

It’s weird. I’ve noticed there are more parakeet feathers than ever. Usually it’s just been ducks and crows and pigeons, but for some reason this year more parakeet – you know, the little yellowy green feathers. We had this really great idea a long time ago. Does that surprise you? Ever since, it's been hell here. All the shops on the street were looted. We saw some guys break in and take out televisions. They even waved and smiled at me. As days went by, people were like, “Try to get me a plane ticket, I need to get out. I need to get out.” I guess this scared me, so I got some stuff together, and my dog, and we went. I wasn’t expecting to see blood. Tomorrow we will try again.

The Order of Things

The first thing that inspired us was probably looking at the dragons. It was like “Yo, to have this embroidered on the back of your shirt!” I saw tears in Foucault’s eyes. Cab drivers always turn around and ask me, “How did you end up in Death Valley with Michel Foucault?” I was once in a pretty bad car wreck. And it was like that – when you get out of the car and you’re trying to figure out what’s happening. Now I hear my shutters rattle at night. I’m like “Move, get away!” but she’s stuck in there, and all the kids are crying, “Why can’t we get out of here? Why won’t they get us out of here?” a few of them holding towels on the wound.

 

Howie Good, a journalism professor at SUNY New Paltz, is the author of The Loser’s Guide to Street Fighting, winner of the 2017 Lorien Prize for Poetry from Thoughtcrime Press. He co-edits White Knuckle Press with Dale Wisely.